Everyone's Got Secrets
by izabelevans
Summary: Everyone has secrets. Some good, some bad. Rated R for bad language.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Everyone's Got Secrets

Author: Izabelevans

Rating: PG-13 (for now)

Show: Dark Angel

Genre: Romance/Angst

Type: WiP

Summary: A/U—Okay, We're going to pretend that certain things didn't happen. First of all, Max has not yet told Alec that she told Logan she and Alec were together. Second, Biggs did NOT die. And Third, like the majority of stories I've read like to point out, that latex-glove-handholding-thing at the end of FN did NOT happen.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything involved with Dark Angel, I just wish that I did.

A/N—This is the first fic I am posting. I've read a million D/A stories and thought it was about time I contributed. Feedback Appreciated.

Chapter One

"Perfect. Rainy _and _windy. It's gonna be a _great_ day." Max said aloud even though she thought she was alone.

"Don't worry, Maxie. It won't be all bad. You have _me_ to keep you company." A familiar voice greeted her from behind.

"Huh?"

"Normal paired us up today, so even though the weather sucks, you'll be entertained."

"Oh lucky me. Cold, wet rainy, and I'm being punished. Come on, Alec let's get this over with." She gave him a half smile and tugged on his jacket as she tore herself from the back window of JamPony. She took a deep breath and resigned herself to the fact that as nuch as she wanted to go home and soak in a hot bath, her workday was NOT going to just go away. And although she wouldn't want to admit it, having Alec with her would make the day go faster. Not only would they be able get the runs done fast thanks to their scientist-given genetic abilities, they would have the entire day to work out the details of getting things set up in Terminal City. Now that Joshua was there full-time and more and more Manticore Alumni were arriving daily, they were really starting to feel like a community. It was starting to feel like something that they could be proud of. A place where they could be accepted and be around their own kind.

The morning was relatively uneventful. They pedaled their bikes, they got rained on, they stopped for hot coffee and they actually got along. It wasn't until the afternoon that Alec fucked it all up.

"Hey Max, we're near Joshua's old place, do you wanna stop in and see Logan?"

Her easy posture tightened and through gritted teeth she ground out, "No Alec I don't. Back off!!"

"Hey, easy tiger," he held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, "I was just pointing out that we were close, and maybe we should stop by and see if the guy needs anything."

"Yeah, well don't 'help'!! Logan is my business. Er-- was my business. We're not like that anymore. I mean, not that we ever were, but we're definitely not now…"

"Max! Chill out. I understand if you don't want to go. I can go by myself later."

"No! You can't!!! I mean, I will see that someone handles it."

"What is your deal? Just because you and Logan are "on a break" doesn't mean I can't stop by and talk to the guy. He's helped me out a few times too. If I can help the guy out with some computer equipment I won't feel so bad about calling in more favors later. Think about it Max. The guy is seriously connected. Anything we need for terminal City, Logan can either get it directly or point us in the right direction. It's bad business to cut off your best contact. And Logan is our best contact."

"You're right Alec. You're absolutely right. But it doesn't have to be you. Anyone could do it."

"Max, you're being ridiculous. Wait, did you just agree with me?"

"No. I mean, yes."

"Whatever. I'm gonna go see Logan. If you don't want to go, don't go. I'll catch up with you later." Alec turned and started heading toward Logan's new place. He was mentally counting down to when Max would begin to chase him. Three. Two. One…

"Alec!! Wait!!" Max yelled as she tried to catch him.

Alec had a good thirty foot lead on her, but he knew the second she was following him. He also knew why she didn't want him to go see Logan.

Did she really think he wouldn't find out that she had used Alec as an excuse to push him away? It's not even that he minded. Pretending to be Max's boyfriend definitely had some potential for some _serious_ fun, but she could've asked. Or at least clued him in. How believable would it be if Logan saw Alec out with another girl? Max was trained better than that. "Rookie mistake," he muttered as he heard Max on her bike behind him, closing the gap between them.

"Alec! Stop!"

Trying his best to look casual about it, he came to a stop and allowed her to catch him. "Yes? Is there some reason you don't want me and Logan to be alone together? Is there some reason you don't want me talking to Logan?" He gave her his trademark smirk as the realization started to dawn on her.

"You know!!??" She asked him, completely shocked.

"Know what?" He wasn't going to make this easy.

Max took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for what was to come. She didn't like having to ask for help, and she really didn't like taking help, and when you put those two unpleasant things together and tag them with Alec's name, Max _really _didn't like it.

"Alec," she began calmly, "I may have let Logan believe that you and I were sort of a couple…" She whispered that part and was looking intently at the bottom of her bike tire.

"Max?" He tilted her chin up with his index finger. "I already knew. I overheard you telling O.C. Transgenically enhanced hearing, remember? But I didn't say anything because it's not a bad plan. It might just be enough to get him to stop pining for you for about, oh, thirty seconds." He gave her a sarcastic look to make his point. "He's never going to believe it just because you told him."

"I didn't tell him. He asked me. He saw you leaving my place the morning after that whole Ben thing and he assumed."

"Wow."

"I know"

"No, I mean I'm amazed that I didn't even notice him as I left. I must be going soft." He smirked, she hit him in the shoulder. It was their system and it worked. It was their way to communicate when things got weird and they didn't know how to handle it. "Come on, Maxie. Let's pay a friendly visit to the guy now that there's nothing to hide."

"Fine. Ladies first." She gestured for him to go ahead of her.

"Hey!! I said I might be going soft!! Not turning into a chick." But he laughed and then the two X-5's picked up their bikes and walked the remaining half a block to Logan's new place (Joshua's old place).

Logan was sitting at a checkpoint across town. He had a meeting with an informant about a potential cure for the virus. He had spent half of the morning trying to convince himself to give up hope and not go, but even if they weren't going to be together, they still had to be around each other, and eliminating the potential threat of death was a nice idea. But it hurt.

He had seen how happy and comfortable Alec and Max had been that morning in front of her apartment. Max looked actually happy. He hadn't seen her face light up like that in a long time. In fact, most of his memories of Max since her escape involved watching her fighting back tears and dealing with pain. He truly loved her with all of his heart, and he would do anything to see her happy. Even if it meant letting her go completely. Even if it meant supporting her decision to be with Alec.

He sighed loudly. "I need a drink," he muttered as he was waived thru the checkpoint.

Alec finished writing the note to Logan (can't let the guy think Max came around looking for him on her own-don't want to get the guy's hopes up) and stuck it to the monitor of his computer. "No chance he'll miss that huh Maxie? I mean the guy is practically married to that thi.." Alec was cut off by a quick slap to the back of his head. "Fine, Fine. Let's go." And they headed out.

A normal visitor would've left the note on the front door, but for two people who have never once knocked before entering any of Logan's doors, it was pointless to pretend that they had not barged in like they owned the place. Which, if you think about it they kind of _actually _own the place. Well, technically, it's Joshua's, but they we're family right?

The two transgenics headed away from Logan's and towards Terminal City.

"Come on Alec. Let's get Biggs and the boys and then you can do the boyfriend thing and buy me some drinks." She kidded, relieved that her secret was out.

"Not a bad idea." He said sincerely and they headed off.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter2

The music at Crash was loud. Too loud. Or maybe Max just had a headache. It had been a long day of deliveries, followed by a long evening of planning and organizing in Terminal City. She definitely deserved a couple of beers.

As if on cue, a pitcher of beer was placed in front of her, followed by a handful of beer mugs.

"Thanks, Alec."

"No problem. Looks like you could use it."

"Wow, with flattery like that, no wonder the ladies are all over you." She kidded as she helped herself to a mugful of the icy brew in front of her.

He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, "I was just saying that you've worked hard today and you look like you could stand to relieve a little tension. Now, I'd be willing to offer to help you relieve some of that tension in some of the more creative ways…" He was interrupted by a swift slap to the back of his head.

"Alec!"

"What? I meant sparring, or a trip to the top of the needle, or maybe a little B&E. What did you think I meant?" He gave her a half smirk as he said it and then turned to pour himself some beer.

"Whatever." She let it drop.

"Max! Alec! Come back here!" called Biggs from the corner of the back room. The two grabbed up their beers and followed the voice of Alec's best friend.

"Hey guys," he said as they got close enough "Noone interesting to shoot pool with tonight. We're going to throw darts. Wanna play?" Biggs looked up at Alec as Alec handed him a beer.

Alec glanced at Max who was busy looking around the crowd. she's either looking for OC or Logan and my money's not on the lesbian He turned to Biggs, "Yeah, me and Maxie against you and Sketchy. Come on Max." he grabbed the sleeve of her jacket and tugged her in the direction of the dartboard.

"How come I have to have Sketchy while you get Max?" Biggs made a face as he watched Sketchy stumbling back from the men's room.

Alec was watching Max still scanning the crowd. ":Fine. Fine. You can have Max. I'll take Sketchy. Let's just play." He put some quarters in the machine and started up the game. "You're first Maxie." He put three blue-tipped darts in her hand and directed her to the throw line.

Pulled out of her thoughts, Max looked up at the dart board. "Um. I've never played before. What numbers do I aim for?"

Biggs came up from behind her and proceeded to explain the rules and scoring to her. Alec took special notice of how close Biggs was standing to Max and the way that she seemed to be hanging on his every word.

When Biggs put his hand on the small of her back, he couldn't stop himself from interrupting. "Hey! We gonna play or what? It's not brain surgery—although Biggs, you could probably benefit from some—you just point at the round thing in the middle of the machine and throw."

Biggs turned back to Max and whispered conspiratorily, "At least he didn't bust out with that 'I learned to play the piano in one day' crap again." He smiled at her.

She winked at him and replied, "Or worse, he could've said 'Bip,Bip,Bip!'." The two dark-haired transgenics burst into an uncharacteristic fit of giggles. When they regained their composure Max stood up to the throw line and hit her mark three times in a row.

"Not bad for someone who's never played before," Biggs teased as he held up his hand to give her a high-five.

Alec, taking note of the way-too-comfortable interaction between Max and Biggs, stepped up to the line backwards. "Yeah, but can she do this?" as he threw backwards, without looking and hit the same three spots Max had just hit on her turn.

The game proceeded for over half an hour as the three transgenics took turns showing off and having fun. It would've gone on longer but the beer ran out.

Alec picked up the empty pitcher and started to head for the bar, but Max stopped him. "No, I'll go. You got the last one." And she headed up to the bar.

Both Alec and Biggs watched her go with deliberately disinterested looks on their faces.

At the same moment both Biggs and Alec noticed the false expression on the other man's face and realization dawned on the both of them. "You're interested in Max!!??" they said at almost the exact same time. They both gave the same slow shake of their head. They both took a deep calming breath at almost the same time. It would seem weird if an outsider was watching, but these men grew up at Manticore. Every expression and every reaction was learned. Nothing was just natural, they were conditioned to act appropriately and when they were caught off guard, to the point that now it was just instinctual.

Alec spoke first, "Don't even think about it."

"I've already thought about it, man." Biggs answered taking on a defensive stance.

"Well, rethink it. She's off limits to you."

"Hey pal, this isn't Manticore. I have choices. She has choices. And you can't stop me. Besides, if either one of us has a shot, it's me. You're her side-kick. The perpetual thorn in her ass. She probably thinks of you as her brother. You are already out of the game, my friend." Biggs gave Alec a sympathetic look.

"Don't flatter yourself Biggs. First of all, Max is still pining for super-cripple. Second, I am NOT her brother. And Third, you stand _NO_ chance against me. I'm telling you to back off." Alec gave him his most intimidating commanding officer look as he ground out that last bit.

"Don't pull rank on me Alec. That commander shit is not going to win you any points with Max. But since you're so cocky about the whole thing, why don't we make it interesting? Would you be up for a little bet?" Biggs challenged.

"No way. Max would kill the both of us if she ever found out." For once Alec didn't make the stupid choice.

"Fine. A little healthy competition never hurt anybody. No rules?"

"No rules."Alec and Biggs shook hands and looked up to see where Max was.

At that exact moment Alec noticed Logan at a table near the bar with a gorgeous brunette who was not Max. "Oh Shit." He mumbled and Biggs followed his gaze to Logan and his mystery woman. "Oh shit is right." Biggs agreed.

The two men headed toward the bar where Max was standing waiting for the pitcher. She had obviously not noticed the spectacle Logan and the brunette were making in the corner—yet.

As they got nearer an idea occurred to Alec, and a smile spread across his face…

Logan and Sarah were sitting on the same side of their table and leaning close to each other. He was trying to look comfortable. He was trying not to search the crowd for Max. He was succeeding, but it was killing him. He could feel her in the room, but if he was going to pull this off, he couldn't show it.

Sarah leaned in and nuzzled his neck. "How am I doing, Logan?" she asked quietly. He leaned into her so that it would look like he was nibbling on her ear and responded, "Just fine. You're doing just fine. Give me another twenty minutes and then we can go." He pulled away from her and resumed gazing into her eyes and intently chatting with her.

It was killing him though. Sarah was beautiful, but she just wasn't Max. Max. He remembered his earlier resolution and tried to focus. He wanted Max to be happy, and even if Max was with Alec, Logan knew she wouldn't really let go and be truly happy if she thought Logan was suffering all alone and pining for her. So he enlisted the help of Sarah Roth, a fellow reporter back from his newspaper days, to play the part of his new girlfriend for a couple of weeks. He thought if he could convince Max he was in love with someone else, then she wouldn't feel bad about her new relationship with Alec. He figured all it would take were a couple of public appearances and then Max would get the hint that it was okay to let go. If only it worked both ways. Logan knew that he would never get over Max, but it was time to let her go. She was "the one" for him. Unfortunately, that had now turned into "the one that got away."

While at the bar, Max looked around. She had been looking for Logan earlier, but then she got wrapped up in her game with Biggs and Alec. It surprised her that she hadn't thought about him for the past half an hour. She casually turned around and tried to inconspicuously scan the bar. She had already swept the place twice before she spotted him. She would have missed him, but he was wearing the shirt she had given him for his birthday. Otherwise she wouldn't have believed that it was Logan canoodling in the corner with that bimbo like they were the last two people on the face of the earth. She felt her temper start to boil but that quickly changed and suddenly she found herself out of breath like she had been punched in the gut. She knew she had been the one to end things, but seeing him move on so quickly really was a painful shock. Needing to escape, she spun around to make her exit and found herself crashing into a wall of hard muscled chest.

Alec gently caught her against him and held her still. To an outsider it would like a casual embrace between a loving couple, but actually it was taking an enormous amount of effort on Alec's part to achieve that casual look. Max was trying to struggle and it was taking all of his strength to hold her still.

"Max, calm down." He mumbled softly, his breath warm on her cheek.

"But.."she began but he cut her off.

"I saw him too, Max, but if you go tearing out of here he's going to notice. And if he notices, he's going see that you're upset. And if he thinks you're upset," While he talked he began to play with the ends of her hair where it grazed his fingers. "he's going to wonder why. And if he wonders why it just might occur to him that you have not, in fact, moved on with someone else."

While Alec was talking and soothing her with his ministrations, Max stopped fighting him and really listened. As much as she hated to admit it, Alec was right. It _was _her idea to end things, and it was the right decision to make. She wanted Logan to be happy. But then why did she feel so shitty?

She looked up into Alec's eyes and saw the look of true concern he was giving her.

"You're right. I'm fine. You can let go."

"Do you wanna get out of here?" he asked her as he loosened his grip but didn't release her.

"Yeah." She looked down for a moment to compose herself. When she looked up, she had a calm expression on her face. She caught Alec's eye and he winked at her. For some reason she was feeling a strange disconcerting ache in her belly.

"Ok. Follow my lead." Alec kissed her high on her cheekbone right below her left eye and laced the fingers of his left hand with the fingers on her right hand. He shot a smug look at Biggs and headed towards the door pulling Max along closely by his side.

Conveniently, the path they took to the door took them past Logan's table. Not too close, he didn't want it to seem obvious, but close enough to get noticed.

"Your place or mine tonight Maxie?" He asked her loud enough to be heard, but quietly enough that it didn't sound like he was trying to get Logan's attention with the comment. He wanted the other man to hear him, but he didn't want Logan to think that he wanted him to hear.

"I don't care where we go hotboy, but you'd better get me there fast." As she and Alec had neared Logan's table, Max had regained that Manticore-bred-tough-girl persona that had been her primary defense mechanism for the past 10years. Neither Max or Alec glanced in Logan's direction.

Attagirl Maxie Alec thought as Max got her head back in the game. "You don't have to tell me twice." He said as he rushed her out the door.

Behind them, Logan sighed the sigh of a broken man, and Biggs smirked at Alec's quick thinking…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Max stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a soft towel. She stretched her neck and rolled her shoulders. She felt good. Really good. Better than she could remember feeling in a long time. Last night had changed her life…

After Alec helped her get out of Crash without any embarrassing scenes with Logan, he walked her to her bike, gave her a little pep-talk and then followed her home to make sure she got there okay before he headed over to Terminal City. Of course, she couldn't sleep and headed up to the space needle to clear her head. She was up there almost all night, reliving her relationship with Logan. The fun, easy times they'd had, the intense and scary times they'd had, the near death experiences…all of it. And by the end, she'd realized that although she did love Logan, things between them hadn't been good for a long time. She started to realize that she'd moved on months ago, and just hadn't realized it. By the time she got home she felt like a new woman. No guilt, no sadness, just a feeling of calm.

She even managed to get a couple of hours of sleep. And, it looked like she might even be on time for work.

Max pulled on her riding gloves and headed out of the building. She stopped short when she noticed someone leaned over messing with her bike.

"Hey!" she yelled at the man she was planning to kill. "Get the HELL away from my bike, Asshole!!!"

Startled, the man jumped up and turned to face her.

"Good morning to you too, Max" he smirked.

"Biggs! What the hell are you doing?" Although she was relieved, she still didn't like anyone touching her bike.

"Chill out Max. I just thought you would like some coffee. I usually eat breakfast around the corner from here and I brought you a cup." He smiled and handed her a styrofoam cup of some really great smelling coffee.

"Thanks" she said taking the cup from him, "but what the hell were you doing to my bike?"

"Oh, I was filling it up with gas. Mole has a little errand he needs us to go on, and you're going to need a full tank."

"What kind of errand?"

"I'll explain it to you later, but the plan is for us to check in at work and then get Alec to do all our deliveries so we don't have to take another personal day. Can't afford to lose our jobs. We need those sector passes."

"Sounds good. Let's go" she said as she checked her gas-cap.

"What's the matter Max? Don't trust me?" he teased as he got on his own bike.

"No, it's not that. I just wanted to make sure it was on tight enough."

"I could see how you would be worried, us X-5's are pretty delicate." He winked at her and headed off to work.

She smiled and headed after him.

OC was looking at her watch when Max and Biggs walked into JamPony. She had just been wondering what was taking them so long. She was afraid that Alec would head out on his first run before the two dark-haired transgenics arrived, and that was NOT part of the plan. How was Alec supposed to get jealous if he didn't see them arrive together, carrying matching coffee cups from the same restaurant?

OC smiled to herself at how easy this was. Men were just so predictable.

Alec was standing at dispatch with Normal when Max and Biggs walked in. His jaw literally dropped when he noted that they were carrying to-go coffee cups from Ned's Diner. They had breakfast together? Max and Biggs had breakfast together? At the diner Alec had introduced Biggs to? Damn!!

He composed himself and continued talking with Normal like nothing was wrong, but the damage had been done. OC had seen the momentary look of shock when he saw Max walk in with Biggs.

As Biggs and Max headed to the time clock to punch in OC caught Biggs eye and gave him a sly wink and nod.

"No." Alec said simply.

"What do you mean, no?" Max asked him, her surprise evident by the tone of her voice.

"I mean I have my own 'little errand' to run today, and I can't do that and cover all of our asses here at the same time."

"Come on people! Packages don't deliver themselves!" Normal's voice interrupted from across the room.

"I'll go get packages for all three of us, you two work this out." Max sighed as she headed over to dispatch leaving the two men to figure our what the plan was going to be.

"What errand?" Biggs asked "Mole didn't mention anything to me when he gave me the instructions for our job."

"Well, Mole is not the only man trying to make TC come together. And I'm sure he didn't specifically tell you to take Max with you. I'm sure that was probably your idea. But sorry pal, you're going to have to trick Max into hanging out with you on your own time. I have a meeting with a very important contact and I can't reschedule." Alec smirked.

"Fine, I can get Dalton to go with me." Biggs gave in.

"Good, now who's going to be the one to tell Max that she's stuck doing all the deliveries while we're out?" Alec and Biggs turned to look in the direction of the temperamental female who was stuffing their three backpacks with packages for the first run.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" Biggs suggested.

"Fine. One, two, three…" Alec brought his hand out in a fist signifying 'rock' while Biggs had decided on a flat palm indicating 'paper'.

Biggs smiled brightly and clapped Alec on the shoulder, "Good luck with that man." And headed over to his locker leaving Alec to deal with Max.

A smile spread across Alec's features as a plan formed in his head. Heading to talk to Sketchy instead of Max, he reached inside his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Sketchy, my man!! Wanna make an extra 50 bucks?"

He quickly filled him in on the details of the plan and Sketchy agreed.

Alec found Max waiting outside by the bikes.

"Hey Maxie, change of plans." He took the bags from her and strapped them to the back of his bike.

"I thought you couldn't reschedule your meeting?" she asked.

"I can't, and I didn't." he said as he continued securing the packages. At that moment Sketchy came up behind Alec. "Hey Alec, this is awesome, man! Are you sure it's okay with Normal? Last week he told me that hell would have to freeze over before he let be have a shot at Motor-Pony."

Alec quickly assured Sketchy that he had things under control with Normal. He then handed him the keys to his bike and turned to Max.

"So, we're going to have to take your bike. Think I can drive this time?"

"Are you crazy? You just gave your own bike a death sentence by handing it over to Sketchy. There's no way I'm letting you near mine!!" she shook her head and smiled, mounting her bike and moving forward to make room for Alec to climb on the back.

As they were pulling away, Biggs and OC walked out and saw them speeding down the street. Surprised, they looked at each other before noticing Sketchy trying to kick-start Alec's bike. OC started to laugh, and Biggs just shook his head. Alec was proving to be very easy to manipulate…

"DIX!!" came the frantic voice over the line as the man answered his phone.

"Max?" he recognized her voice instantly.

"I need back-up! Alec's meeting was a set-up! He was ambushed! Four familiars showed up instead of his contact and they have him in the trunk of a white car heading east out of sector six. I need as many X's as you can send me and I need them all now!" Max blazed up to the checkpoint, phone in one hand and sector pass in the other. As she was waived through, she continued giving Dix information as she tailed the car Alec was in.

Four minutes later, the sound of motorcycle engines could be heard by Max. She looked in her rear-view mirror and saw that right behind her 4 X-5's were closing in on her, Biggs and Cece were among them.

As they caught up to her, she gave them all hand signals organizing their plan of attack. Biggs signaled back and it was on.

Max and Cece took the left side, Biggs and Axel took the right side, Zen sped around all of them and passed the white car opening fire on the occupants and he sped by. All of their return-fire was concentrated on him, giving the others a chance to get close. Zen continued going until he was far enough ahead to make his next move, then he spun in a 180 degree turn and headed straight for the car playing an even more dangerous game of chicken as he continued to be fired upon.

Max drove up on the driver's window and punched through it, attacking the driver. Biggs followed her lead on the passenger side as Cece fired into the backseat killing the two familiars back there. Axel pulled in close and jumped off of his motorcycle and onto the back end of the car. Perched low on the bumper, he quickly picked the lock and opened the trunk. Alec smiled as Axel pulled the duct-tape off of his mouth. "It's about time man, that took almost 12 minutes!" Axel smirked back and gave him the finger, before reaching in and pulling Alec to his feet. Alec had already picked the lock on his handcuffs and leg-shackles. The two men jumped up onto the top of the car and from there each man jumped off of the car and onto the back of one of the waiting motorcycles still alongside. Axel jumped onto the back of Cece's bike and Alec jumped on behind Max.

Cece and Max headed off in the direction of Terminal City and left Biggs and Zen to deal with the mess.

Alec had a bullet would low on his right leg and they lost Axel's motorcycle, but that was the only real damage that came out of that scuffle. Max had some cuts on her fingers where her gloves didn't quite cover when she punched through the car window, but cuts were nothing to worry about if you're an X-5.

The next several hours were spent in a planning room off of the main command center trying to figure out how Alec's contact had been compromised and what they were going to do to get the supplies they could no longer get from him.

Alec had played it like it was no big deal, but he knew he had come close to death that afternoon. If he hadn't been trying to one-up Biggs for having breakfast with Max, and then trying to take her on a mission while leaving Alec behind to do all the grunt work, Alec never would have taken Max to his meeting. Really it had been a dumb idea. Most black-market dealers were skiddish and didn't like changes or surprises. Most of them refused to meet with more than one person in order to keep their identities as private as possible. That's why even though he had brought Max, he had left her around the corner and told her she was back-up. It was purely for his ego that she had been there with him and he thanked the blue lady that she was able to organize a rescue before White got a hold of him.

They were going to have to come up with a way to have back-up on all of their missions, even the simple ones. The familiars were getting bolder, and he was going to make damn sure that his people always had the upper hand in that fight. He was done losing his people to those whacked-out bastards.

Several hours later most everyone had cleared out of TC.

Jinx was manning the computer and Luke was monitoring the security cameras.

Alec was sitting at a table looking over maps and working on a plan. He looked a little tired, but there was a determined edge to his features that Max could see even from across the room where she had been working on translating the latest runes. She had been watching Alec for over a half an hour. He looked different tonight. Or maybe it just appeared that way to her. She had started to pay a lot more attention to Alec lately. She had been realizing more and more just how much she enjoyed being around her own kind. It was like being back with her siblings. It was as comfortable as it had been when she was a child back a Manticore. Not the place, Manticore was hell, but the relationships she had had there with the others, had been easy and comfortable. She hadn't felt like she belonged like this since they escaped in '09. Not with Logan, not even with Cindy. She had loved both Logan and Cindy, but there was always an element to it that she knew she shouldn't be there, that she was afraid of the day that just by her being there they could get hurt.

Max got up from her chair and walked across the room to stand beside Alec. "What are you working on?" she asked peering over his shoulder.

"Hmmm?" he asked looking up "What?"

"What are you working on?" she repeated.

"Oh, nothing important. What are you still doing here?"

"Watching you work. You're really committed to this."

"You say that like you're surprised." His eyebrows were drawn together in a very serious look.

"I didn't mean it like that. You always come through Alec. It's like you are taking this personally. It's like you are acting like you are personally responsible for everyone here."

"I could say the same of you, Max"

"I _am_ responsible Alec. I let them out. I took away their home. I pissed off White and caused all of this."

"That's a little melodramatic. White was looking for a way to take down Manticore himself. The familiars had been trying to put a stop to Sandeman's work for years. If you hadn't done it, he would have, and nobody would have survived." He sighed and ran his hands through his hair at the thought.

They were both quiet for a minute.

"Feel like getting out of here?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah. Did you get your bike back from Sketchy?"

He laughed "No, I figured I'd save that trauma for tomorrow. What do you think the odds are that he didn't wreck it?"

"Slim. Very slim." She laughed and picked up her jacket off of the arm of the chair. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

"How about you drive me somewhere else? Let's go get a beer."

"Alec, I'm not in the mood for Crash. I don't want to deal with Logan tonight"

"Who said anything about Crash? Come on, I know a great place not too far from here."

"Alright, but you're buying."

"Me? I'm probably going to have to buy a new motorcycle tomorrow and you want me to buy beer tonight?"

"Alec, you didn't 'buy' your last motorcycle."

"Right. Then ok, I'm buying." She laughed.

"You bet your ass you are."

"Again with my ass, Maxie…" she punched him playfully on his shoulder as they turned and headed out to her bike.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: thanks to those of you that have taken the time to review. I appreciate the feedback, and I'm excited that you like my story!!

Chapter 4

The bar Alec had taken Max to was near his apartment and she wondered how she had never noticed it before. It had more atmosphere than Crash did. It was a little darker, it had a small dance floor in the back room and a little stage where a drumset and a microphone stand stood. There was a large mural of the pre-pulse Seattle skyline on the wall behind the bar. In the back near the pooltables was another large mural.It was beautiful. It was the perfect place to unwind after a long day of delivering packages and being hunted down by a homicidal snake-worshipping cult.

"Alec, this place is great."

"It's not bad, but this is nothing, Thursday nights are the best. That's when they have local bands in here to play."

"Really? Interesting. What kind of music?"

"All kinds."

Have you ever played here?"

"I'm not a band Max, I'm a guy. And it's not like they keep a piano under the bar.Besides, that doesn't exactly go along with the whole keeping a low profile thing."

"What are you talking about Alec? Nobody would be able to tell you learned it in one day. Playing the piano is something even ordinaries can do. That is totally not the same thing as cage fighting under the pseudonym 'Monty Cora'."

"Still, it's not my thing." He turned back toward the bar and took a long drink.

"Alec, I've heard you play. You're great and you seem to like it-"

He interrupted her, "MAX!" ha snapped a little too loudly making her jump slightly. He immediately felt bad and lowered his voice to a more conversational tone. "I'm sorry. It's just that it's private to me." He paused. "Can we please talk about something else?"

"Yeah." She said quietly. They were silent for several moments, but it was a comfortable silence. It was not the first time that they had accidentally stumbled into uncomfortable territory due to one of them having lost someone they loved.

Alec finally broke the silence, "Can I run an idea by you?"

She perked up, glad that she hadn't ruined their night. "Sure. What?"

"What would you say if I suggested that we start looking for an alternative to T.C.?"

Max choked on her beer. "What!?" she was expecting something like 'should I get a bigger TV' or 'should I join a bowling league' and instead he's been sitting there pondering alternative housing for the entire Manticorian population.

"Well, after today, it's obvious that White is getting closer and his men are getting bolder. Today he managed to get to one of my best contacts. If he can get that kind of information, he may have more. I got captured by Familiars today. Maybe we'd be better able to protect ourselves if we were in greater control of our surroundings. Maybe living in the city with a giant sign that says "the freaks all live right here" isn't the best idea."

She thought about it for a minute.

While he was waiting for her to answer he took a minute to really look at her. 'God she's really beautiful' he thought to himself. He liked the way she wrinkled her

eyebrows together when she was really thinking hard about something. He found himself torn between smoothing out that spot with his fingers, or saying something

funny to make her laugh. Damn! I really am pathetic he realized what he was doing. Fortunately she was answering him.

"Alec, I like where I live…"she started.

"I know Max, so do I, but we're unprotected. White knows that many of us are living in TC, the cops know that many of us are living in TC. And even those of us

that don't live there spend an awful lot of time there." He was prepared with more, but she stopped him by placing her hand on his arm and leaning in closer to him.

"I know. I was just about to agree with you if you would ever let me finish."

"Oh. Good. Any ideas on a good location?"

"We'll bring it up to the others. Maybe someone else already had this thought and has a suggestion. We can stop by there in the morning on the way to work."

"What, you're not having breakfast with Biggs again?" Alec said with a small tinge of bitterness.

"What?" Max asked him confused.

"Nothing. Come on let's play some pool." He grabbed their drinks and headed for the back room.

Two hours later they were ready to call it a night.

"I can't believe you let that guy beat you" Max exclaimed as they walked out of the bar.

"I beat the guy once, then you beat him four times in a row. He thought we were hustlers. I have a 12-hour-old bullet wound in my leg, I was not in the mood to

fight the guy _and_ have to pull my punches so he wouldn't get suspicious."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, smart-ass"

"You mean Smart-Alec," he corrected.

"No I don't 'Dick'"

They were headed towards Alec's apartment. It was late, he was tired and she was feeling restless. It had kind of become a habit lately that on the nights she

couldn't sleep, she would go to Alec's to watch TV. She and Cindy didn't have one, and besides Alec slept better with her there. When he was alone he was

wide awake everytime he heard a creaking floorboard through the paper-thin walls. With Max there he could sleep soundly knowing that she was keeping watch.

She wasn't as into TV as Alec was,but there were a few shows that were interesting to her (she had just discovered Dawson's Creek reruns) and besides, it killed

time and gave her something to do.

The city was getting more and more dangerous for a transgenic, especially at night. It just wasn't safe for her to be running around the city on her Ninja when she

couldn't sleep. They were two blocks from Alec's having a friendly argument about whether Dawson or Pacey should end up with Joey when Alec stopped

suddenly, dropped into a crouch and reached out to stop Max. His left hand reached out and touched her leg. She too reacted instantly, mirrored his stance and

immediately began scanning the area for any possible threat.

Completing her scan and coming up with nothing, she looked questioningly at Alec. He signaled for her to follow him and they silently climbed up the fire-escape of

the nearest building. Carefully and gracefully they jumped rooftop to rooftop until they were across the street and two buildings down from Alec's building. They

peered over the ledge to the scene below. Down the block on the right there were two cars Alec didn't recognize. They weren't the usual Black SUV's or

HumVee's but definitely government vehicles. They could tell because _nobody_in this neighborhood would be stupid enough to park a car that new and that shiny

on this street. Why not leave the car running with a sign on it that said "free. Take me please."

There was also a man walking slowly with a little dog on a leash. Max zoomed in with her enhanced vision and looked more closely at the man. His jeans were

_ironed_ and had a crease down the front leg. Were these guys idiots? Who puts on clean jeans in the middle of the night to take their dog out to pee? Apparently

Familiars did not selective breed for 'attention to details'.

On the roof of each building adjacent to Alec's were two men with walkie talkies. They were being silent, but their antennas were sticking up and were visible.

Alec took a deep breath and gave Max a serious frown. Her eyes were wide as they took it all in. Neither of them said a word, but they both knew what the other

was thinking. Alec's apartment had been compromised. They could never go back there. And his only possessions now were what he had on him. If he weren't

already having such a bad day he would be more pissed about losing everything. He had kind of gotten used to having stuff that was _his_. He had clothes he liked, a

coffee mug he didn't let anyone else drink out of not even Max, not to mention the mother of all TV's he had scored from Brain's collection. But the truth was, he

was just happy to be alive. That was twice today he had come close to being snagged by White.

Max still didn't know what had tipped Alec off, but whatever it was had saved them both from walking into an ambush. They backed away like the cats they almost

were and headed for the sewers.

"Did you ever have one of those days where you wish you had just stayed in bed and skipped it?" Alec broke the silence, the Dawson v. Pacey debate long since

forgotten.

"Did you stop and think that if you _had_ stayed in bed that you would've been there when the bad guys showed up?"

"Good point." They were well into the sewers and completely surrounded by the most horrible smell ever. Alec pulled his t-shirt up and covered his nose. "I just

meant that this had not been my day. My contact turned on me, I got captured by familiars, I got shot in the leg _again_, and now my apartment has been taken over

by the same bad guys that had ruined my day HOURS AGO! And if that's not enough, the icing on the cake is that NOW I am on a trip thru the sewers to you and

Cindy's place to crash on your lumpy couch. All in all-" He stopped when she reached her hand out and grabbed the front of his shirt, fisting it in her hand. He

looked at her and saw that Max had turned as white as a ghost.

"Max, what is it.?"

"Cindy.."she whispered and took off.

Realizing her fear at the exact same minute, Alec took off with her blurring towards Max's apartment. He stopped her when they reached the street level.

"Max wait!" he grabbed her arm. She struggled, blinded by fear for her friend. Unable to get through to her Alec tackled her and pinned her to the ground. "Max!"

"Let me go! I have to get to her!" she was making no progress getting him to release her. He held her as still as he could pinning her with all of his strength.

"Max think! They don't want her. They want us. If they have her, she's alive because they will use her to get to us. And if they are waiting for you before they

spring the trap then she's likely to get caught in the crossfire." Max heard him and let his words wink in. She stopped fighting him and he got off of her, pulling her

up with him.

They climbed to the top of the nearest building and jumped rooftop to rooftop until they could see her street. Again, were two out-of-place cars that were obviously

government-issue, and a suspicious stranger lingering on the street. Max's heart was racing. She was cursing herself for being weak and sentimental and not leaving

with Zack when he told her to. If anything happened to Cindy because of her--

Alec interrupted her train of thought. "Let me call her." He said as he reached for his phone.

"No! let me!" she reached for his phone, but he held it out of her reach.

"Max! If you call her it will look suspicious. Why would you call your own place? If I call, I'm just a guy looking to score."

Max relented again. She HATED it when Alec was in control and she wasn't. She had survived on her own for 10 years by following her quick impulses. Now that

she was looking out for others as well as just herself she had a hard time breaking that habit and weighing her options. That was another reason she had stayed

away from guns. She was more 'shoot first ask questions later' and that really got you nowhere when you needed information from the guy you just shot.

The phone rang twice before Cindy picked up. "Hell-o"

"Original Cindy" Alec said in the sexiest most seductive voice Max had ever heard. She did a double-take the second he opened his mouth. "I'm in the mood to be

corrupted by some of that Original Sin you do so well. Why don't you come over and give Uncle Alec some suga." Although the line was lame, Max felt herself

start to get a little warm. Damn that boy had sex appeal. It didn't matter what he said, it was the way he said it. He could make cleaning the oven sound sexy.

Original Cindy recognized Alec's voice immediately, and given the fact that he was very aware that she was not into _that_ no matter how fine the boy was, she

realized something must be wrong. She played along. "I ain't comin' all the way ova there at this hour. But I am hungry. Why don't you buy a sista' some dinna'

and then she'll see if you are worthy of any of Original Cindy's time."

"Anything for you baby. The usual place?" he asked knowing that Cindy would head to Joshua's—well, Logan's now. "And bring some stuff, I'm gonna want a

couple of days worth of Original lovin'" He hoped that it would lessen the blow of her leaving behind everything if she could at least get a bag of her own stuff out

with her.

"See you in ten hotboy."

"Make it fifteen, I don't want to rush you."

"Fine. Later." She hung up.

"She's fine, and she understood." Alec said to Max as they headed towards Logan's.

Alec called Biggs next to get his ass over to Logan's along with a few others, and then he called Dix to tell him that Max and Alec's apartments had been

compromised and to organize a group of X's to check on all of the X's living outside of TC.

The X's all seemed to stick close to what was left of their units from back at Manitcore, so it usually didn't take more than one phone call to organize anything.

Alec's original unit was pretty much intact, but Biggs and Axel were the two he was closest to. He hadn't gone on too many missions with the larger unit.

He was usually sent in on a Solo-Op or as part of a small strike team. Alec, Biggs and Axel had worked well together and had a comfortable rhythm between them.

But beyond that, Alec kept mostly to himself. He had spent more time than anybody in Psy-Ops and Reindoc, and he never got back into step with the whole

unit. People tended to be wary of the Twins of the Niners as if they were just traitors waiting to happen. Everyone suffered in the aftermath of the escape. Everyone

had been afraid to go through that again. Now that they were all free it didn't really matter, but Alec mostly just stuck close to Max. He felt closer to her. Not only was she ostracized too, but she had known his brother. Alec had always wondered what it would have been like to have a brother. And sometimes, if he was lucky, Max would tell a story about Ben as a kid. He lived for those moments. He could stop and pretend he remembered his brother. When you have no family, you hold onto even the smallest scraps of memories, even if those memories aren't yours.

By the time he got off the phone he and Max had made it to Logan's but hadn't called ahead to warn him they were coming.

For the first time in all of the time that she had known him, Max knocked on the door. Alec looked at her questioningly.

"Hey, you say him and what's-her-name all over each other at crash, do you really want to walk in on anything they do behind closed doors?" she asked.

Alec smirked, "Pasta and conspiracy theories, yeah I'm sure that's hot."

Max was unable to respond because before she could even come up with a response the door opened to a confused Logan looking at his watch.

"Hey guys. Uhh, what's going on?" he looked confused.

Alec pushed his way inside. They had no time for politeness.

Max spoke while Alec headed into the basement to the small arsenal he had stored there 'just in case'.

"White found my place and Alec's place tonight. We just called Cindy to tell her to get out, and she's on her way here. We don't know if he's going to follow her

or what, so we gotta be prepared for anything." Alec walked back into the room and handed both Max and Logan each a gun. Max didn't even hesitate and

Logan's mouth dropped open. "I thought you 'didn't do guns'." He asked.

"Cindy's my family. And this is my fault. If I have to have this gun surgically attached to my hand in order to save her, I will."

Alec rolled his eyes. Just because someone didn't _like_ something didn't mean that they didn't realize that there was a time and place for everything, and when

tangling with psycho-cult members, guns were kind of a good idea.

They heard a noise coming from the back and Max and Alec blurred around and leveled their guns at the sound. Logan was a little slower, but followed suit. Biggs,

Axel, Tron, Cece and Hugh entered the room. All five of them dropped to the floor as one. "What the Fuck!" Biggs called out from the floor.

"Sorry man" Alec apologized (did you really think it would be Max) and all three guns were lowered.

The five additional transgenics each had a bag with them. "We brought our stuff. Looks like fabulous TC is going to be home sweet home from now on." Cece said

as she dropped her bag in a corner and took point on the side window.

"Don't get married to the idea." Alec said, "But that is a topic for later. Everyone pick a position. Don't engage until Cindy's safety can be guaranteed."

They silently spread out. Max took the roof, Alec took the neighbors roof. Logan, Cece and Axel each took a corner of the house and Biggs, Tron and Hugh

followed Alec outside. Hugh smiled a rogue-ish grin and said "Just like when we were kids. Alec leads and we follow."

Fifteen minutes later Cindy was walking down the street a block away. She looked around casually and darted into the bushes of one of the houses. She crept into the backyard and made her way through several backyards until she was near Joshua's. As she got closer she felt a light touch on her arm. She looked up into Hugh's big blue eyes and he motioned for her to stay quiet and follow him. They entered Logan's house from the back and he hurried her into the basement.

Alec relayed the signal to Max that Cindy was inside and safe. She visibly relaxed but they couldn't abandon their positions yet. They needed to know that she hadn't been followed. They needed to know that she was going to be left alone. It was half an hour before anything happened.

Two of White's NSA lackeys were skulking around the neighborhood obviously trying to pick up Cindy's trail where they lost it. They didn't seem to be familiars,

and they didn't seem to be having any luck. The transgenics remained hidden and let the agents satisfy themselves that the girl had disappeared. Another half an hour later the agents were long gone and they all regrouped back at Logan's.

Max headed straight into the basement and hugged Cindy, tears streaming down her face.

"Relax girl! I'm fine." OC hugged Max tight.

"I'm so sorry Cindy. I should've moved out ages ago. I didn't mean to get you in the middle of this." Cindy pulled back to look Max in the eyes.

"Now stop right there. I didn't want you goin' anywhere. It's all good."

"Cindy! You just lost your apartment and everything you own. You can't go back there. It isn't safe."

"But I didn't lose you Max. Clothes can be replaced, you, my sistah, cannot." The two girls hugged again.

An hour later Logan, Cindy and the seven transgenics were sitting in the living room eating pancakes.

"So, what's the plan?" Logan asked as he put another large plate of pancakes on the table.

"Well, the immediate plan is for all of the X's living around Seattle to move into Terminal City with the others until we can find a better, more secure location."Alec

said.

Logan blanched, "Another location? I thought T.C. was safe for you because you were immune to the bio-toxins?"

"It is not tactically sound for us to stay in TC now that everyone knows that's where we are. One or two nicely placed bombs and the 'transgenic threat' is all

over." Max interjected.

"Where are you going to go?" Logan asked reminding himself that Max's safety and happiness needed to come before him own selfish need to have her close.

"We haven't decided yet." Alec said.

"I'll look into some places if you want. Just tell me what you are looking for and I'll get back to you." Logan offered.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll have Dix send you some parameters later today." Alec said as he helped himself to another pancake.

"What about Original Cindy?" Biggs spoke up "She can't come to TC with us and she can't go home."

"She can stay here." Logan offered "I have plenty of room."

"Thanks Logan, but I got me a fine sister with a sweet apartment that would love to have Original Cindy play house with her."

"The offer's still open if you change your mind."

"Thanks Logan."

"We had better head into TC. This is going to be a long day." Biggs changed the subject.

"Ah." Alec sighed "The story of my life."

"Suck it up soldier." Max joked as she started to clear away the plates. "Everybody ready?"

"Wait Max." Cindy grabbed the bag she brought from their apartment and handed it to Max. "I got some of your stuff before I left our apartment."

"My stuff? What about your stuff?" Max asked as she opened the bag to find it filled with her belongings.

"Don't sweat me boo, me and my new girl are the same size anyway. No big dealio." Cindy smiled.

"Alright, let's go." Alec interrupted.

Max hugged Cindy and they said their goodbyes as the other transgenics grabbed their stuff and headed out. Even Alec had a bag in his hand. He had forgotten that he had some things in the spare bedroom from when he had laid low at Joshua's after being mistaken for Ben.

Alec was the last one out and he stopped to talk privately to Cindy. He slipped a couple of hundred dollars into her hand and squeezed it shut. "That was a good thing you did Cindy. Bringing Max's stuff instead of yours."

"Yeah, well, I like to go shopping more than her anyway." She smiled.

"We're lucky to have a friend like you." He reached down and hugged her to him.

"Just keep my girl safe."

Alec looked her square in the eye and said, "I'd die before I let him have her, Cindy" and then he winked at her and walked out the door after the others before she

could respond.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Their bags hit they dusty floor with an almost simultaneous thud. It was late. They had made decent time getting here from Logan's, but between the trannie-haters, the sector cops and their own security measures it had taken forever for them to actually get inside of Terminal City.

Too tired, and too uncaring to go looking for more comfortable accommodations, Max spread out a blanket on the floor and laid down. She rolled over on her side and faced the wall. She had no intention of sleeping, she just wanted some peace. It had been a rough couple of days and it looked like it was only getting worse.

Alec looked over at Max and stifled a sigh. He knew she wouldn't appreciate him acting like he felt sorry for her. There wasn't a transgenic alive who reacted well to people pitying them. She knew he was here. If she wanted anything she would ask. Well…actually, no she wouldn't, but she would lash out at him and he would translate that to mean that she needed him and he would let her beat on him like always. It was their system and it worked. It's not her fault, really. Manticore conditioned warm fuzzy moments out of them by the time they were toddlers. Any actual sharing of emotions was extremely uncomfortable and desperately avoided. The closest they could get to dealing with emotions was an akward silence or spirited sarcasm. So, without a word he headed out of the room and over to command to be debriefed about the night's events.

Max just stared at the wall wrapping her arms around herself. She could tell that there were two other people in the room with her. She knew Alec wasn't one of them. She had heard him leave. She wasn't sure which two had joined them in this room, and which three had gone off in search of greater comfort than this dusty, drafty room, but it didn't matter. She was safe and so was Cindy and that is all that mattered.

So, here she was, alone again. This time she hadn't even said good-bye to Logan. But what was there to say? He thought she had moved on, she had _seen_ that he had moved on, they couldn't be together even if neither of them had moved on, so what was the point? She wasn't all heartbroken like she would have expected, it felt more like disappointment. Yeah, disappointment. One more thing that she worked at and failed at. The only relationship that she could sustain was her relationship with Original Cindy. She smiled. Cindy was like an angel in all of this. She was the one person who kept Max's head on straight. She was Max's motivation for coming here tonight. Just the thought that Cindy had been that close to being in the middle of this shit with White was all Max needed to force her to wake up and smell the biotoxins. Alec was right. They were a danger to them.

She sighed. Alec. Alec being right. GOD! She _hated_ it when Alec was right.

She spent the next hour reliving the past few years in her head. She thought of her life here and how much she would miss it. She liked walking into Crash and knowing that everybody knew her. She liked having a steady job. She liked her normal, uneventful life. Actually, if she was honest with herself, she missed the life she had before she met Logan. Was that bad? To be thinking that maybe it would be better if she had never met him? Then she could have her life. But the rest of her people would still be locked up in Manticore and she would be alone. No siblings, nobody like her to make her feel included, to make her feel like a part of something. Without Logan, she would never have met Alec. _Whoa, where did that come from?_ It was true, but why insert Alec into that thought? Why not Joshua or Gem or any of the others? _Nevermind. I don't want to know. Not tonight_

She was still lost in her thoughts when Alec came back. She knew it was him before he even made it inside the room. He always paused before he entered a room. Like he was preparing for something. She had thought about asking him why he did it, but she knew she probably wouldn't get a straight answer anyway, so she hadn't bothered.

Alec slowed as he came back to the room. He paused outside, fortifying himself before coming into contact with Max. He found that it helps to pause and collect himself before seeing her. He was so afraid that one of these days he was going to do something stupid like lean in and smell her hair, or push a stray strand back behind her ear, or say something he didn't intend to, and then she'd _know_. And if he ever let her _know_ then he wanted it to be intentional. He didn't want it to be a slip-up. So he always prepared himself before entering a room he knew she was in. He had to. She was just to Goddamn beautiful. Would it have been too much to ask for Manticore to make them just average looking? Did they all have to be _sooo_ perfect? How were they supposed to get anything done? _Hey! Snap out of it soldier! You can't stand out here all night_

He entered the room and took notice of Biggs and Axel asleep. One near Max's head, the other near her feet. He laid his blanket next to hers and stretched out. He was careful to make sure there were at least three feet between their bodies so there was no chance of him accidentally coming into contact with her in his sleep (a situation he was sure would cost him an appendage if he were to be so careless). Then he turned away from her and slept on his side. Not that it would matter. He would probably lay awake all night wondering what her hair really did smell like, what her skin tasted like…_DAMMIT! Cut that shit out!!_ He forced his mind to go blank and eventually he slept.

Biggs was the first to wake up. He didn't know for sure, but he sometimes wondered if he had a little shark DNA in his cocktail. Not as much as Max, but enough that he was up every morning at 7 whether he needed to be or not. He was just about to get up when he looked around the room and changed his mind. He smiled to himself. _This was going to be interesting_ he thought and with an anticipatory smile gracing his features, he pretended to be asleep.

Alec slowly started to come into wakefulness. He loved the mornings. Especially the mornings when he didn't wake up to an alarm. Not that he minded waking up, in fact, he was a morning person, he just found waking to a loud, intrusive noise was such a shitty way to start the day. He moved his arm to reach down and scratch his stomach and froze. There was a hand already there, and that hand did not belong to him. Without moving anything but his eyes, he looked down at the foreign body part. The skin of said hand was a perfect bronze and the accompanying fingernails were painted cherry red. _OH SHIT!_ He thought it sucked to wake up to a loud alarm? That was going to be a cold cup of coffee compared to the ass kicking he was going to get from Max if she woke up to discover her spooning him! _Wait! HER spooning HIM?_ This wasn't his fault! His back was still to her. _She_ had crossed the distance and rolled onto _him. _This might be a good day afterall. He closed his eyes and waited like a kid on Christmas morning for her to wake up.

Max was warm. Warm and comfortable. Warm, comfortable and cuddled up with the greatest_—what the hell was she cuddled up with?_

Carefully, she opened one eye and found herself looking into a very firm, very muscular, very warm back. A bare back. A bare, male back. A bare, male back featuring a barcode peeking out from under the golden hair grazing his neck. A barcode that was—_Alec's_.

_ohshitohshitohshit!!_

_OK. Calm down. Think soldier! Oh! Maybe he's not awake?I'll just **remove my hand from his rock hard stomach?** Oh GOD. Could this be any worse?_

And then, all of the sudden it was….

Alec knew the minute she woke up. She hadn't moved a muscle, but she was holding her breath, as if he wouldn't feel her body wrapped around him like second skin as long as she wasn't breathing.

He smiled and bit his cheek to prevent the laughter that would certainly ruin all his fun.

Before Max could react, he pretended to stretch and trapped her arm in place by locking his bicep tight against his side. There was no way for her to get out of the hold without "waking him up".

Max tried not to panic. But this was horrible!! Not only was she going to have to rip herself out of Alec's grasp, but Biggs and Axel were going to witness her humiliation.

She took a deep breath and gently pulled her arm towards her OWN body. It didn't budge. She flexed her fingers and they brushed against Alec's abs. She felt his body jerk slightly. She moved her fingers again. And AGAIN his body jerked. OH GOD! Alec was not only ticklish, he was awake!

"You ASSHOLE!" she yelled. And she struggled to free herself.

Biggs, Alec and Axel all burst out laughing at the same time.

Alec was fighting for breath while trying to subdue Max's struggles. He knew that if he let her hands free that she would be beating him within a second.

When he couldn't hold her steady any longer, he let go and simultaneously rolled as far away from Max as he could.

The room was still filled with the laughter of the three males.

Max was beet red.

"I was COLD alright. COLD! It's a scientific fact that MEN and WARMER!" the laughter only increased. "You're all a bunch of jerks!" embarrassed, she stormed out of the room.

"Max if it was warmth you wanted, I have warmer places for you to put your hands than on my stomach!" Alec called after her.

"I would've kept you warm Max!" Biggs said between bursts of laughter.

Axel couldn't breathe enough to make a comment.

The laughter followed her out of the building.

It may be juvenile, but these boys hadn't really got to embrace their childhoods when they were children. So, any opportunity for immaturity that came their way, they grasped with both hands.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Max had managed to avoid Alec and his two stooges since _the incident_ that morning. She knew she hadn't handled it very well, but Alec was just so infuriating! Would it have killed him to be a gentleman about the whole thing and let her untangle her body from his without embarrassment? _No_. But did he? _No…_ _Asshole. Jerk. Bastard…_Really, she could go on all day coming up with names to call him, and in fact, that _is _what she had spent most of the day doing, but the day was almost over, and sooner or later she was going to see him. Terminal City was only so big…Speak of the Devil…

Alec was sitting on the floor surrounded by small children. They were all sitting Indian style with perfect posture and they were hanging on his every word. Her heart went out to those kids. They were so young and already they had been trained to sit at attention at all times. She could only hope that Manticore had burned down before any of them had experienced torture or punishment. She could give up her life here and everything she had ever loved, without regret, if she could guarantee that these kids were spared what she and the others were not.

As she got closer, she could here what Alec was saying. "And then the Evil Queen ordered her guards to bring the handsome Knight to her throne room." His voice changed to an evil cackle that sounded a little too much like Renfro, "So, Sir Knight, you think you can defy my orders and rescue the beautiful young princess? Well think again!" His voice went back to normal. "And the Knight was dragged away from the evil Queen and thrown into the dungeon. But lucky for him, one of the guards was his friend…"He looked up and saw Max. "Oh, hey Maxie." He turned back to the kids. "We'll finish this later guys. Why don't you go and see if Joshua needs help painting something." He stood, picking up a small girl that Max hadn't realized was sitting in his lap. He whispered something to the little girl and she smiled brightly at him before he placed her on her feet and she ran off with the others. Turning to Max, he gave her what he hoped was an endearing look. "I've been looking for you."

"For me?"

"Yeah. I moved your stuff into a better space. It's still small, but it is cleaner, it has a window and a private bathroom with a working bathtub."

"Really! A bathtub?" her eyes brightened at the thought.

"Yeah, but.."

Her smile disappeared, she _knew_ there would be a catch. "But what?"

"But you're still stuck with me and Biggs and Axel. There just aren't enough habitable apartments for everyone, and with everything that's going on, it doesn't make sense to fix up anymore. I was just hoping that the bathtub would impress you enough that you wouldn't notice the three of us." He gave her the shy smile that had worked on so many impressionable young women in the past.

She thought about it for a minute."What about a mattress?"

"What?'

"Am I still sleeping on the floor, or did you find me a mattress?"

"If I find you a mattress, will you be ok with the arrangement?"

"Find me one and I'll think about it."

"Ah, Maxie, you are too kind to me."

"I am! Do you realize what the three of you are like when you are together? You act like five-year-old-children. Wait. Strike that." Max had a mental flashback to the well behaved transgenic children Alec had just been playing with, "Five-year-old-_ordinary_-children!"

He couldn't deny the truth of her words. When they got together it was like they were trying to recapture some of their lost youth. He could only grin in response.

"Go on, Alec. That mattress isn't finding itself." She gave him a little shove, and headed off in the other direction.

He allowed himself to be pushed, but he really didn't need to. He had already made sure there was a mattress for her after he had found someone to fix the bathtub.

There was a meeting scheduled for that night. At least one representative from every Unit had to report to every meeting. Everyone was welcome to come and listen or bring up an issue, but at least one person _had_ to attend. Mole and Dix usually ran the meetings. The freaks had a greater interest in organizing T.C. since they couldn't go out into the world and fend for themselves. The X's had more flexibility since they could blend in with the ordinaries more easily, so they tended to do most of the leg work.

Max was one of the first people at the meeting. She knew that they were going to be discussing the possibility of leaving Terminal City, and she was nervous. A part of her hoped that someone would come up with a plan that would allow them to stay, but another, very small part of her was kind of excited about the possibility of starting over somewhere new.

The meeting started at 2300 hours on the dot as scheduled. Manticore would be so proud.

"OK. Let's get started. Who wants to go first?" Mole brought the meeting to order while he lit his cigar.

Max looked around the room at all of the people assembled. There was a pretty good turnout. In fact, the only people that seemed to be missing were those on duty at the perimeter, manning the security cameras, or those keeping an eye on the younger ones. Joshua and Gem were missing, so they must be among those that were with the little ones.

A pretty redhead stood up. "We have finished setting up the new arrival office. So, everyone else who makes it here needs to check in there. That way, we can keep track of the number of residents, and also what everyone's specialties are. We are also trying to see how many are still unaccounted for. I have a preliminary list of designations and specialties, so please check and make sure that you're on it and that your info is correct."

"Thanks Carly." Mole acknowledged her, "Who's next?"

An odd looking camel-colored scaly creature stood up and faced the crowd, "Uh. Hi. Um. Some of the kids have been playing in our sand and building castles in it and we feel bad about crushing their projects, but we need the sand to sleep in. It keeps to moisture off of our skin. Can anybody get a couple of hundred pounds of sand?"

"I think I can help you out, man. See me after the meeting." A voice spoke up from the back.

The meeting went pretty quickly for the next hour. It was almost as if everyone knew that there was something important to talk about, but nobody wanted to be the one to bring it up. Max was getting restless. She looked to Alec hoping he would be the one to bring it up, but she couldn't catch his eye. He had a laptop in front of him and whatever he was doing with it seemed to have his full attention_If he's playing video games over there I am so going to kick his ass_ !

When the dark haired man that was speaking had his issue resolved and sat down, Max stood up.

"Yes, Princess?" Mole smiled at her with his cigar between his teeth. He had been wondering when one of them was going to stand up and address the _real_ reason this meeting had been called. Another five minutes and he would have had to do it himself.

"Hi everyone. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Max."

"And for those of you that were named by her, she's sorry." Alec interrupted from the back. A chorus of giggles broke out and Axel gave him a high-five.

Max shot him a death glare, "If you don't mind, _Dick_, I was in the middle of something."

"I was just helping you out there Maxie."

"Not the kind of help I was looking for, _thanks_." She said sarcastically.

"I've got all kinds of help, what kind do you need?"

"Well, for starters, you can shut the hell up. Why is it so hard for you-"

"HEY!" Mole yelled from the head of the room. The whole room went silent. "Max, did you have something to share, or were you and Alec just trying to entertain us?" God those X's could be such a pain in the ass!

"Yeah. Sorry. I know that this is nothing you haven't already heard, but last night, a couple of us who had been living outside T.C. had some trouble. White managed to find out the locations of several of our apartments, which forced us to move into Terminal City. Well, 'move' isn't exactly the right word since none of us could retrieve any of our stuff, but the point is that White found us. He also got to one of Alec's contacts and Alec was ambushed and captured by four Familiars when he showed up for his meeting. Things are heating up. The Familiars know too much. They're closing in on us, and so are the rest of our enemies. Our location isn't a secret anymore. They all know where we are. It's too dangerous for us to stay here. We could probably hold off a ground attack, but if they dropped even a single bomb or we're done."

She looked around the room as she spoke, making direct eye-contact with as many people as she could. "We were trained better than this. We're trained better than our enemies. We can win, but we have to find a more secure location. We have to leave T.C."

The room erupted in noise as everyone started talking at once. Mole fired one quick shot in the air. The walls shook as everyone dropped to the floor at once.

"Mole!" someone yelled from the back.

"Relax, it was just a blank. All right! Let the girl talk! You know the rule. Whoever has the floor _has the floor_!" He gestured for Max to keep going.

"Does anybody have any ideas?"

Luke stood up from the back. "We've been looking into some leads, but our intel is all old. We would actually have to send out a couple of teams to scout the locations. And none of the possibilities would really be able to accommodate ALL of us even if they did pan out. Hell, T.C. can't accommodate us anymore. There's just too many of us. So the best plan is to split up into a couple of groups. We can work out the details of that after we have a better idea about what our options are."

"Good. Sounds like a good start. Any volunteers for scouting missions?" Max addressed the crowd again.

Several hands went up.

"Fine. Luke can you head this project?"

The odd-looking man beamed at the responsibility. "Sure, I can have teams out by tomorrow night."

"Good. Just make sure that you leave enough experienced fighters behind in case we're attacked while the scouts are out. We gotta be prepared."

"No problem."

"Ok. You heard him people. See Luke after the meeting to volunteer."

Mole took back control at that point and the meeting ended a few minutes later.

When the meeting was over Max approached the pretty redheaded girl that had spoken at the start of the meeting. "Carly right? From the new arrival office?" Max asked. The girl nodded and Max continued. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

Max pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. "This is a list of the barcodes from my unit. Do you think you could let me know if any of them show up here?"

Carly looked at the list and then back up into Max's hopeful eyes. "Sure, Max, but what makes you think they would come here? I mean, none of them were still at Manticore when it went down, why would they come out of hiding just to put themselves back in danger?"

"I know. You're right. It's a long shot. But could you just keep an eye out anyway?"

"Sure thing. I just don't want you to get your hopes up."

"The hope is what keeps me going." Max said quietly, her eyes downcast. "Thanks Carly." She mumbled as she turned away.

Carly watched her walk away with a twinge of sadness. She didn't know what it would be like to lose her entire unit. And she hoped everyday that she would never have to find out. She scrapped her plans to head over to the dining hall, and instead went directly to the new arrival office.

Biggs was waiting for Max in the hall.

"Nice job, Maxie."

She groaned. "Not you too. Don't call me Maxie. How hard is it to just stop at the x?"

"Aw, come on, you know you like it. It makes you special. You don't just have _one_ name that is all yours, but you have a nickname too. Most of these kids don't even have real names yet. I ran into a girl this morning who tried to tell me her name was 'Fixit'. What the hell is that shit? I told her she needed to get a _real_ name…"

"You saw Fixit? She's here?" Max interrupted.

"You know her?" Biggs asked.

"She named her." Alec interjected as he came up behind them smirking.

"You did that to her? Why? What did she do to you?" Biggs asked.

Max didn't bother answering, she just punched him in the stomach to shut him up. Biggs doubled over from the blow.

Alec clapped him on the back as he passed him. "Better you than me, Biggsy."

Alec had won a bottle of scotch playing cards with some X-6's and he, Biggs and Max were heading up to the roof to drink it. Axel had sentry duty and couldn't join them.

They took a shortcut through Command. Max walked in first with Alec with Biggs deep in conversation and still a few steps behind. Max wasn't paying attention to them. She had heard something about 'Battlebots' and tuned them out.

Rich, a blond-haired X-5 called out to Max when he saw her. "Hey Max! I got a hit from that list you gave Carly!"

Max stopped in her tracks and spun to face him. "What?" she asked as her heart caught in her chest.

"That list of your 'siblings', one of the new arrivals is a match." He said.

"What?" Max said again not allowing herself to believe that she had heard him correctly and that one of her siblings was actually there. Alec caught up to her at this point and barely managed not to crash into her.

"What the hell, Max?" Alec asked, confused as to why she had stopped.

" She was right behind me. She should be here any minute." Rich continued gesturing in the direction he had come from.

Max turned toward the door that led to the hallway where the new arrival office was located.

"She?" she whispered still in shock. _One of my sisters is here!_ she thought, her excitement starting to grow.

Just then the door opened and in walked a beautiful girl with distinctly Asian features. She had long, straight, silky, dark hair and chocolate brown eyes similar to Max's.

"Brin" Max whispered.

Brin looked in her direction and a huge smiled spread across her features. "Oh My GOD! I can't believe you are here! I was so worried about you! I didn't think you had made it!" She rushed across the room. Max regained her composure and was just about to reach out to hug her long-lost-sister when Brin ran right past her and threw herself into Alec's arms hugging him tightly.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N--I have written and re-written this chapter. I still don't like the end as much as I wish I did. Any feedback would be appreciated. I'm not above re-writing it if anybody has a better idea…

Chapter 7

Max stood there in shock. With her mouth hanging open, she could do nothing but stare at the strange scene in front of her.

She had waited and hoped that one of her siblings would arrive in T.C.

She knew that the publicity surrounding the siege at T.C. would become national news and might attract some of them to come help the cause. And here she was, less than two feet away from Brin, and Brin hadn't even looked at her. She had seen Alec and only Alec.

But why?

Why would Brin hug Alec like he was---

_Like he was Ben._

Max's heart stopped beating at the realization. Brin didn't think she was hugging Alec, she thought she was hugging Ben!

Max felt tears start to form in her eyes. She hadn't even been able to enjoy her sister for one minute before they were going to have to have "the talk" about what had happened with Ben.

Brin pulled back and looked up into Alec's smiling eyes. "494, I never thought I would see you again."

_494?Brin knows Alec? What the hell?_

Alec laughed, "Ah, Brin. It's Alec now, by the way."

Brin interrupted."Alec, huh? As in 'smart Alec? I like it."

Max just stood there speechless. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She could just stand there and watch like she was stuck in some sort of nightmare.

Catching the look on Max's face, Alec turned serious and cleared his throat.

"Brin, there's someone here who wants to see you." He touched her shoulders and steered her around so that she was facing Max.

The two sisters just looked at each other. Max with tears in her eyes, Brin looking like she saw a ghost.

Brin whipped her head around and turned back around to Alec. "What the hell is she doing here? You let traitors inside your HQ?" she spat out.

Alec cringed as Max paled. He had been afraid of that.

"Brin," he said seriously, his eyebrow raised. "Don't start with that shit. You don't know what you're talking about. Remember. Remember that they manipulated us everyday. Manticore told you what they wanted you to believe about Max and the others from your original unit, not the truth."

Brin looked confused for a moment and Alec gave her an encouraging nod. She looked slyly at Max and then quickly back to Alec.

_Shit!_ he thought.

He spared a glance at Max and gave her a quick, reassuring smile before he continued.

"You remember Biggs?" Brin nodded and looked over at the dark-haired man next to Max.

Biggs had been silent during the whole exchange, but had stood with his weight on the balls of his feet, ready to act, just in case. He knew Brin. Had worked with her at Manticore. And he knew what Alec was dealing with here.

Alec was still talking."Well, he'll get you something to eat, and show you around. I have to do something with Max, but I'll catch up with you later, Ok?"

He hugged her briefly before guiding her towards Biggs.

Biggs greeted her warmly and he guided her out of HQ with his hand firmly on the small of her back.

Alec turned to Max who stood had one single tear trailing down her face. He brushed it away with one finger and said softly as he took her by the hand, "Come on Max, We have some things to talk about."

Silently, Max and Alec went to the roof. Ironically, this was where they had been headed (along with Biggs) before the interruption. Alec opened the bottle of Bourbon and handed it to Max. She took a long pull on the bottle before returning it to Alec who matched her enthusiasm.

"Alec, what the hell just happened?"

He sighed, mentally preparing himself to relive what he was about to share with Max.

"It was just after the Berrisford mission. I had been in Psy-ops for about two weeks before they brought her in. They put her in the cell with me. I was heavily drugged. I didn't know what was going on. I had been tortured and tested and I was scared. This was something new—putting someone in with me."

He paused and took a considerable gulp from the bottle. She was staring at him, seeing the faraway look in his eyes, hearing the dead voice he was talking with, but she didn't make a sound. Whatever this was, it was obvious that it was hard for him, and she didn't want to make it worse. Whatever her pain was, it could wait. He was obviously doing this for her and she didn't want him to stop.

"It turns out that it wasn't me they were trying to punish with this tactic. It was her. It was Brin. Renfro thought it would be fun to torture Brin with watching her brother tortured. They told her I was Ben. I didn't know. They used me to try to break her. They knew that she knew things about some of you and they thought if they tortured her with Ben, that she would give them the information they wanted. They thought she would give up your location to stop my torture. But she didn't. She knew that if she did, she would be watching you be tortured too."

He took another drink and passed the bottle back to Max.

"They eventually had to stop. They were too close to killing me. They separated us again. I had three days to recover in the Med-Wing before they put me through Reindoctrination. She wasn't so lucky. She went directly from Psy-Ops to Reindoctrination. She was close to breaking when I got there. We had adjoining cells. I was stronger now, and I was able to figure out what had been going on before. I convinced her that I wasn't Ben. I showed her my barcode. I helped her get through it. I had friends. I was able to sneak her painkillers and tranquilizers to help her sleep at night. She completed the Reindoc. program quickly and got an assignment. Then she returned the favor and helped me. She would bribe the guards to let her into my cell. She would sit with me for hours, soothing me when I had nightmares. We got close."

He glanced at Max as if he was just remembering that she was there.

"Max, part of Reindoctrination includes an entire segment about the '09 Traitors." He held up his hand as if to silence her even though she had made no move to object to the term 'traitor' "Their words Max, not mine. We were all brainwashed against you. She was told that you were responsible for her torture. She was told that you turned her in to save yourself."

Max jumped up "But I didn't! She had to go back! She would've died. She asked me to take her back! I didn't want to!" She was sobbing openly now. Almost hysterical.

Alec put his arms around her and held her close.

"Shhh, Maxie. I know. And she knows too. Sometimes she would tell me a story about you. A good story about when you were kids. She could remember that you were good. And the brainwashing just confused her. She had conflicting images inside her own head. She had her own memories _and _the images they fed her. She loved you too much to fully give in to them. And they either figured it out, or enjoyed having one of you escapees to punish. Bottom line is, she got sent back to Pys-Ops. I couldn't get to her. I don't know what they did to her. I think they used Telecoersion on her. Like Mia did with us. I think they had to trick her since they couldn't really break her. She's delicate Max, mentally, I mean. They played with her mind so much that I don't know how stable she is. And we don't know where she's been since Manticore went down."

His shirt was soaked with her tears, but she was getting control of herself.

"We'll take care of her Max. We'll work with her and help her to figure things out. Okay?" He pulled back far enough to look down at her, but he kept his arms around her.

She looked up at him with sad, bloodshot eyes and nodded once before hugging him tightly once again. She found comfort in the steady beat of his heart as he held her, and she wondered if Brin, too, had taken the same comfort from him.

Alec had stayed with Max until she calmed down. He knew she had a lot to deal with, but so did he. He had to go check on Brin.

Max was in HQ trying to look busy when Axel, Biggs and a group of other X-5's walked in. They were all dressed in black and were each carrying their own bag of tricks. Joshua had nicknamed the bags full of tools they used on missions, lock-pick kits, electronic gadgets for various purposes, little tools, small weapons, the occasional smoke bomb, or other distractionary method. Max perked up when she saw them. What were they planning? Axel walked over when he saw her.

"Hey Max. How's it going?" he had heard about the earlier excitement.

"I'm climbing the walls here. What do you guys have going on?"

"Just a little B&E. We got a lead on some troop movements and we're going to break into a government office so we can hack in and try to get more details."

She looked over his shoulder at the six men behind him.

"Why so many? Sounds like a two man op."

"We can't let it look like we were going after this info. If they know we got it, they'll change it. So the others are for a distraction. They're going hit some nearby places to steal actual things, so that our one little computer download won't even be noticed." He smiled at her.

"I know how much you like to mess with the sector cops. Got room for one more?" She asked desperate to get out of T.C. even if for a little while.

Axel looked over at Biggs who shook his head 'no'.

Ignoring Biggs, "Sure Max. Suit up. We're out of here in five."

She smiled, thanked him and took off, grateful for the distraction.

Looking pissed, Biggs approached Axel. "Alec would kill you for taking Max on this. What the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking of her. Look at her. She's like a caged animal. I thought I'd give her something to do, take her mind off of things for awhile."

"But Alec-"

"Screw Alec, Biggs. He doesn't own her. She'll be fine. What could happen? She'll be with us."

"I'd like to hear you tell Alec that."

"If he were here, I would."

"Whatever." Biggs just rolled his eyes and walked away. There was no point in arguing about it now, anyway. It's not like Max would take no for an answer now anyway.

_It's going to be a long night._ he thought as he headed up to the truck.

Alec had no trouble finding Brin.

"Hiya." He said smiling at her.

"Hi yourself."

"Brin-"

"I know what you're going to say Alec. I just got confused for a minute."

He kneeled down on the floor in front of her and took her hands in his.

"It's okay. I know how hard it is to sort through all Manitcore's bullshit. We'll figure it out together. And Max'll be fine. You can see her tomorrow if you want. Or not. Whatever you want. But enough about that. I'm interested in hearing about _you_. Where have you been? How did you get here? Did you come alone?"

"Later. I want to hear all about you. And Max. Tell me how you ended up here."

He sighed for what felt like the one millionth time that day. He stood up and sat beside her making himself comfortable. _It's going to be a long night._

"Fuck!" Biggs swore as he picked Max up and threw her over his shoulder. She had a stab would in her right side that was bleeding profusely. And she had been hit in the back of the head rendering her unconscious. He hoped that the pressure of her wound pressing against his shoulder would slow the bleeding until he had time to attend it properly.

What was supposed to be a distraction for the _real_ target had turned ugly when Max was ambushed by several over-aggressive rent-a-cops. Turns out that security had been beefed up since the last time they had hit this place. Biggs was gonna kill Dix for not updating the intell.

"Axel!" He said into the microphone of the headset they were all wearing.

What came the response.

"I need help. Max is down and I have a bullet in my right thigh."

Fuck! What is your position? 

"We're two miles from the rendezvous point. Slightly northwest from the target."

Give me two minutes. 

"If you're even one second late _you're_ telling Alec about this! Wait, strike that, you're telling Alec anyway. You're the one who let her come"

Shut up Biggs 

"You shut up."

No, you shut up. 

"Make me."

You don't think I can? 

"I know you can't, you little-"

GUYS! Focus! Cece's voice came over the channel. Argue later. We're still on the mission here! 

He started it Axel and Biggs argued simultaneously.

Two minutes later, the entire team was loaded up in the van with their booty.

Cece and Clint worked on Max's stab wound while Axel dug the bullet out of Biggs thigh.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Biggs shouted as the van hit a bump.

"Sorry" Came a reply from the driver.

"Hold on Biggs." Axel said as he ran a lighter over the knife preparing to sterilize it to cauterize to wound.

Biggs grabbed the wrist holding the lighter and stared hard into his eyes. "If you enjoy this for even one second, I'll kill you."

"You wanna do it yourself?" Axel smirked a very Alec-like smirk.

"Fuck you."

"I love you too, man."

Cece rolled her eyes at the two men's antics.

Biggs gripped the legs of the bench to hold himself steady and braced himself for the pain. He focused on Max's face looking for any sign of consciousness to distract himself.

He grunted as the knife touched his flesh. He could smell his skin burning. And Max never even flinched.

Max was conscious by the time they reached T.C. She didn't have a concussion, but she had one hell of a headache. Fortunately for her, she didn't really notice the headache because of the _giant stab wound in her gut! _

"You ok, Max?" Axel asked.

She glared at him to emphasize the stupidity of that question. "Axel, I have a headache the size of your ego and a STAB WOUND in my gut. What do you think!"

"Yeah. Right. Umm, Sorry. So, do you think we could keep this little incident from Alec?"

"WHAT!" came the simultaneous reply from everyone exiting the van.

"Well, what he doesn't know doesn't kill me, right?"

Biggs laughed. "Oh he'll find out whether we tell him or not, so there's no saving your ass on this one."

It was Cece's turn to laugh at that. "Is that so soldier? Weren't you supposed to be Max's look-out, Biggs?"

Biggs nodded rolling his eyes. Of course he was partnered with Max, how else did her unconscious ass get back to the van?

"And you don't think Alec is going to kill you for dropping the ball on that one?" Cece finished.

Biggs gulped. She was right. Axel let her come, but Biggs let her get hurt. Or, at least that was the way Alec would see it.

Alec had explained the past year of his life in detail to Brin and then she had conveniently fallen asleep on the couch before she could tell her story. He didn't mind though. He had plenty of time to catch up with her. He was just glad she got here before they displaced to a new location. He covered her up and sat down on a nearby chair.

He hadn't lied to Max. He and Brin had met in Psy-ops and helped each other through the pain. He had been surprised that Max hadn't been pissed that he hadn't told her before. It's not like he hadn't known how starved for information about her siblings she was.

What he didn't tell Max was that he had been Brin's breeding partner before he had been assigned to Max. They hadn't slept together. Not only did they have a brother/sister-type bond, neither of them wanted to give Manticore any new babies to torture. But it was still weird. And even though nothing had happened between him and Brin, but he knew Max would be pissed that he hadn't disclosed that bit of information. He knew first-hand that sisters didn't like to share men. (He had learned that lesson back at Jam Pony.) He was pretty sure that Max wouldn't take it any better than the ordinary women had.

He was deep in thought about the situation when he fell asleep too.

Cece had helped Max shower to clean off the blood, and then helped her into clean clothes. Axel had made himself scarce, going to volunteer for Sentry duty to avoid Alec for as long as possible, but Biggs was waiting up for Max. He didn't want to go to sleep until he knew she was alright.

Cece helped Max from the bathroom over to her bed. Biggs was sitting up on his bedroll against the far wall. "Goodnight, guys." Cece called as she headed out.

"Night." Max and Biggs called out together.

Max was restless. She couldn't lay flat because if pulled on her stitches. She just couldn't get comfortable. Biggs was in no better shape. His leg was killing him. He got up and limped over to the cabinet where they kept whatever alcohol they had. He grabbed the nearest bottle and took a big drink.

"Didn't Manticore teach you that it is impolite not to offer a drink to a lady?" Max asked from across the room.

Biggs smiled. "They didn't encourage chivalry between the male and female soldiers. They drilled it into us that females were our equals. Probably Renfro's contribution to the curriculum."

She giggled. "Ow! Don't make me laugh. I'll pull a stitch. Come on, share." She patted the mattress beside her.

Biggs limped over to where she was sitting up in her bed and he sat down beside her. They passed the bottle in silence for a few minutes letting the dulling effects of the alcohol numb some of their pain.

"Nice mattress. Where'd you get it?"

"Alec got it for me. Consolation for having to bunk with you three idiots."

"Ow! Laughing hurts me too, Max! I'm shot remember?"

She was silent for a minute. "Biggs?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For saving my ass, I mean."

"But not for the liquor?"

She hit him lightly. "Do you guys ever quit playing and act serious?"

"We were serious for too many years, Max. Now we wanna play." He shrugged. "But you're welcome. Come on, get some sleep." He got up to move back over to his bedroll.

"Biggs?"

"Yeah?"

"It hurts to lay down. Can you sit up here so I can lean on you?"

He sighed. If Alec didn't kill him for one thing, he'd kill him for the other. But he didn't say no. He walked back over to her and sat on the bed, resting his back against the wall. Max leaned into him. He put his right arm around her shoulder, and adjusted his good leg so that it was bent under his bad leg supporting it. Max wrapped her left arm around herself to protect her wound and put her right hand on his stomach to hold herself up. They were asleep in minutes, their breath synchronized.

Alec woke up an hour later, stiff from dozing off in the chair. Sparing one last look at Brin, he got up and headed back to the apartment he shared with Max and the guys.

He had felt bad leaving Max after their talk, but he had needed to make sure Brin was alright.

Besides, Max had other friends. She wouldn't have to be alone if she hadn't wanted to.

He got to the door of the apartment and opened it silently. His eyes were already adjusted to the blackness since the hallway had been just as dark.

He looked over at Max's bed as he reached down to take off his boots, and what he saw shocked the hell out of him. Biggs and Max were curled up together on Max's bed. _what the fuck!_ There was no way that Max had chosen Biggs over him, was there? He didn't want to believe it, but they were _cuddling_ for Christs sake!

He felt his temper start to rise, and he immediately reverted to soldier mode. _Think.Assess the situation objectively.Gain the necessary intell to determine the best way to adapt to the situation._ He took a calming breath, and let his training take over.

They were dressed _not_ naked, they were sitting up _not_ laying down, and Max didn't have her arms wrapped around him. In fact, one of her arms was wrapped around her own stomach. They probably fell asleep talking. She was upset. He had known that when he left her on the roof.

If they had been awake, they would have been able to literally watch every muscle in Alec's body relax from tightly coiled to a normal state.

He ripped his gaze away from them and headed back out of the apartment.

He could be understanding. He wasn't designed to like it, but he could accomplish that particular feat.

But there was _NO WAY IN HELL_ that he could sleep in that apartment knowing that Max was in the same room and _in another man's arms_.

He headed over to HQ. He might as well get some work done since sleep was now out of the question.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Alec spent the rest of the night in HQ. At around seven, he figured that Max and Biggs would be up and around and maybe he could get a little bit of sleep. He was going to need his rest for the mission tonight. He had volunteered to go out on one of the scouting missions for the possible new location. He could probably sleep on the way if they had a van or a car, but if they took motorcycles, then he was going to have to be awake.

He got up stretching his back and neck thoroughly before he headed out of HQ. He reached the door, pulled on the handle, and found himself face to face with Axel.

Axel immediately took two steps back. "Hey man."

Confused by his behavior, but too tired to care Alec answered "Hey." And moved to go around him.

_Shit_ thought Axel. "Alec wait. Don't be like that."

Alec looked up at him. "Like what? I'm tired."

"Come on Alec. Look, I'm sorry, man. I just couldn't say no. She looked so tense. I thought it would be good for her to get out. You know, clear her head a little. I had no idea that the intell was old. I had no idea that there would be that much extra security.."

Axel was talking a mile a minute and Alec was having a hard time following him.

"Axel! Stop. Who?"

"Come on, Alec. I'm admitting that it was my fault. And I'm apologizing. And it's not like she was hurt all _that_ bad. I mean, what's a stab wound between friends, right?" he forced out a short laugh. "Max has had worse."

Alec's senses perked up at the mention of Max's name. The conversation slowly came into focus for Alec. He grabbed Axel by the front of his shirt with both hands and slammed him into the nearest wall before Axel could even blink.

Through gritted teeth Alec punctuated every word. "What. About. Max.?"

Axel swallowed seeing the assassin in Alec's eyes for the first time in over a year.

"I took her on the mission last night. She and Biggs got into some trouble. He took a bullet in the leg. She got stabbed in the stomach and knocked out."

"And nobody thought to _tell me this_?"

"You were with Brin. We patched them up and sent them off to bed. I thought you had heard by now. Didn't you go home last night?"

Alec's brain finished putting all of the pieces together. He released Axel, and walked off in the direction of their apartment.

"Alec?" he called after him.

"Yeah?" he answered not stopping or turning back.

"We good?"

Alec looked back, directly into his eyes. "Always."

Max had been awake for hours. She was currently curled up in a dilapidated chair by the window. Her stomach hurt. Her back was sore, and she just wasn't tired.

She was restless. She had thought about going and finding something to do, but what could she do when she could barely sit up straight? She had been waiting for Alec to come home, but he never had. He was probably with Brin.

Biggs knew differently. He had been awake when Alec had been there earlier. He heard Alec's footsteps coming up to the door, heard him enter. Heard him stop breathing. And heard him leave. He wasn't sure if it was a good sign or not. He finished brushing his teeth and headed towards the door.

"Ya need anything Max?"

"No. Thanks Biggs."

"Alright. See ya." He opened the door to leave but his plans changed when a fist appeared out of nowhere and connected with his face.

Biggs took the punch surprisingly well considering that it came out of nowhere, but it still landed him on his ass. His hand flew to his nose to find blood was already covering the lower half of his face. He looked up into the furious eyes of Alec.

All of this had happened in under three seconds.

When she heard the flesh of the fist hitting the flesh of Biggs face, Max had leapt off of her bed and landed in a fighting stance. Her reaction had been so instinctual that she had forgotten about her stitches, and she grunted in pain.

"What the hell Alec?" Biggs asked from the floor.

"'What the hell'? Are you kidding me? What were you thinking?" He reached down to help his friend up off of the floor. It was a gesture completely in contrast to the fight they were currently having, but that was nothing new. As CO Alec had often had to deal with the mistakes of those under his command, and the one way to get an X-5's attention was to throw a punch at them. It was the language they spoke.

Biggs took the offered hand and stood. "I was thinking that Axel invited her to come even though I said no."

"And you let Axel overrule you?"

"No. I let Max overrule me. Have you ever tried to tell her she couldn't do something after she's already made up her mind to do it?"

Alec smirked. "Are you telling me you're afraid of Max?"

"Are you telling me that Max didn't kick you in the balls the last time you told her she couldn't do something?"

Alec unconsciously reached down and adjusted himself as that memory rose to the forefront of his mind. "I see your point."

"And you know how Axel is. Pretty girl, looking sad…He couldn't say no."

"Yeah, that's him alright. How's the leg?"

"Healing. How's Brin?"

"HELLO!" Max hollered from across the room. "Are you guys done fighting over who gets to be in charge of babysitting me?"

Both men smiled sheepishly at her.

"I can take care of myself. I don't need you three idiots watching me like I'm a child."

"Max-" Alec tried to get her attention.

But she was having none of that. "Shut it! I was on my own for ten years before you started following me around causing me more trouble than I ever caused myself. We are supposed to have each other's backs. Not take turns watching mine." She was angry. It was evident in every aspect of her being. How dare they treat her like a child. She was the most mature person in the apartment, for Christ's sake.

She turned her full wrath onto Alec. "Was it or was it not _ME_ who called in and organized _YOUR_ rescue yesterday Alec? Or was that more of you having my back yesterday when you were chained up in the trunk of the Familiar's car?"

"Max-" he tried to interrupt again.

"I'm not finished!" she cut him off, but he would not be deterred this time. He closed the distance between them and reached out to lift the corner of her shirt. Stunned, she stopped talking and followed his hand with her gaze noticing for the first time that she was bleeding again. She knew she had pulled a stitch or two, but she hadn't realized how bad it was.

"Oh." She said.

"I'll get the first aid kit." Biggs said and headed into the bathroom.

Max sat on her bed and Alec pushed her shoulders back gently so she was laying down.

He pulled her shirt up further to expose the entire wound. "Damn. What did you do, sew this up yourself?"

Max looked down at the zig-zag across her belly. "No. Cece and Clint did it while I was knocked out."

Biggs reappeared with some supplies and the two men repaired the damage.

"I don't suppose that you could be persuaded to spend the day in bed?" Biggs asked her when they were done.

"I will if you will pull yourself off tonight's mission mister nine-hour-old-gunshot-wound-to-the-leg." She countered.

"That's a negative."

"Then I think you just answered your own question." She said smiling up at him.

He looked over at Alec. "She's all yours then. I got places to be." He headed out dodging the pillow Max threw at him.

"Alone at last." Alec smirked at her.

"Don't joke. It hurts to laugh."

"Fine. Uncomfortable heart-to-heart it is." He said.

"Brin?" she asked.

"Brin. We had a long talk last night. She didn't say much, but she made me tell her every detail of this past year."

"Every detail? Please tell me that you didn't give her details of all your conquests."

"Why? Jealous because I don't give you any details?"

"Ew. Don't be gross."

"Fine. No I didn't give her details about _that_. But we did talk a lot about you."

"And?"

"And she listened intently to everything I said. She seemed happy that you and I got so close. I don't think it will be hard to help her remember that you are one of the good guys—um—girls."

"Can I see her?"

"Yeah. She asked me to bring you by today."

"She did?" Max asked hopefully.

"She did. So pretty yourself up already. She's expecting us any time now. And I don't think we will be well received with you covered in blood."

Max looked down and fiddled with her hands for a minute.

Alec tilted her face up with his index finger until she was looking into his eyes.

"What's wrong, Max?"

She blushed. "Um. I need help getting ready. I can't do it by myself. I can't even stand up straight."

That wasn't what he was expecting her to say, but he recovered quickly.

"Ok then. I'll just go get Cece." He said hurrying toward the door.

"Thanks." Max said watching him leave.

An hour later, Max was cleaned up and ready to go. And Alec was sleeping soundly on _her_ bed.

She watched him sleeping for a minute. Although they now lived together, she didn't often get the chance to see him sleep. He looked so young and innocent when he slept.

Truthfully, he looked like Ben when he slept. She didn't often look at Alec and see Ben. Alec looked different to her. He looked happier. He smirked. Ben smiled. Alec's eyes had more green in them too. Alec had little crows feet around his eyes when he smiled. Ben didn't. It was like his smile had never reached his eyes when he smiled, like he had never truly been happy. But when Alec slept, she couldn't see his eyes or his laugh lines and he looked like a sleeping Ben. She sighed and shook herself out of her reverie.

Knowing better than to wake an assassin by touching him, she leaned close and whispered in her sexiest voice, "Hey hotboy. Wanna wake up and play?"

Alec groaned and pulled the pillow over his head. "Nope. Don't want it. Sleep is better."

"Hey!" she swatted his shoulder and heard his laughing response.

"I could smell your shampoo long before you spoke, Maxie. Can't expect to surprise an X-5 when a cloud of strawberry's precedes you by two feet."

"Whatever. Get up. I want to see Brin."

"Alright. Give me two minutes. I gotta look pretty too."

"Oh. Well them take ten minutes. You're looking rough." She dodged the smack he aimed at her ass and he disappeared into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later they were standing outside Brin's door. Max was wringing her hands.

Alec leaned in close "Relax. This is your sister." He whispered into her hair.

She looked up at him and gave him a half smile as he knocked on the door.

In typical X-5 fashion they didn't wait for her to answer, they just walked in.

She was sitting by the window looking out at the main street of Terminal City. Not that it was anything to look at, but she didn't have a t.v.

She looked up as they entered. A smile blossomed across her face and she crossed the room.

"Morning Alec." She hugged him briefly before turning to Max. "Hi Max." she said quietly looking down.

"Hi." Max responded equally nervous. She looked up at Alec who gave her an encouraging nod. Max straightened her shoulders and reached out to her sister.

She put a hand on her shoulder and Brin looked up. They smiled at each other and hugged each other tightly. It was a beautiful moment. The kind of moment that should have music playing in the background like it was a pivotal scene in a movie.

A moment that was interrupted by the sound of Alec's cell phone.

"Hell-lo" he said obnoxiously as the two girls pulled back to give him a dirty look before they looked back at each other.

"No problem. Be right there." Alec hung up his phone. "Ok ladies, I am needed elsewhere. You two have fun. And if you're gone fight, please take it outside. This building is old and not up to the kind of damage the two of you would do." He winked at them and was gone.

His exit was followed by an awkward moment of silence.

"So, ummm, how have you been?" Max asked.

"Good. Alec tells me you are doing good."

"Yeah."

More silence.

"Ok. This is stupid. I'm so happy to see you. I have waited over ten years to have you back."

Brin smiled. "You're right. Can we start over?"

"Yeah."

Brin turned in a circle and looked up at Max acting surprised to see her. "Max! Oh my God! You look great!"

Smiling, Max reached out to hug her and replied, "Me? You look wonderful!"

The two women giggled and the tension was over.

They settled into a long afternoon of sharing stories and dreaming about the future.

Alec had headed down to a meeting about the mission that night.

There were three teams heading out to scout three different locations.

Logan had made good on his offer to check out possible locations, and two of those were on the roster for tonight.

It had been a long afternoon and it was going to be an even longer night. He would kill for a nap. But that was going to have to wait. He headed over to check on Max and Brin. He found them where he left them, at Brin's.

"Did you guys eat?" He asked holding up two bags of Chinese food.

"Hey Alec. Thanks. Come in." Brin said from her seat on the floor.

"Did you two have a good afternoon?"

"Absolutely. How was your meeting?"

"No big deal. Did I miss anything?"

"Brin was just about to tell me what she's been doing since she's been out."

"Really? Good. I'm just in time."

The three transgenics dug into the food for a few minutes before Max asked Brin about the past eight months.

"Well, I've done a lot of things. I moved around a lot. I was careful to avoid anyplace I had lived in after we escaped in '09. I knew that I had given them all of those locations and I knew that they were trying to cover up our existence. I had narrowly avoided being killed when I reported to the coordinates provided by the signal following the attack. I showed up in time to watch them gun down three kids. So I retreated and fell back into old habits." She paused to take a few bites.

"Did you regroup with any others? Or have you been on your own?"

"Oh, no. I haven't been alone."

"Really? Who were you with? Anyone I know?" Alec asked with interest.

"Um, well you know of him."

"Huh?" he asked confused.

"I've been with Ben." She announced with a smile.

Max choked.

Not just a little bit. She really was choking. Stunned by Brin's revelation, but driven into action by the fact that Max was turning blue, he put down his container of food, stood, and pulled Max to her feet. He turned her around so that her back was flush against his front. He wrapped his arms around her and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Max choked up the bit of eggroll and caught it with her left hand. She looked up at Alec and quietly thanked him.

Still standing, they looked down at a smiling Brin. They looked at each other. Neither of them knew how to respond to her admission.

Did they tell her Ben was dead?

Did they point out that she was crazy?

What if she didn't believe them?

Would it be too much for her weakened mind?

And what if she asked them how they knew for sure that Ben was dead?

Surely, she wouldn't take it very well when they told her that Max had killed Ben. Max had only been on her good list for a couple of hours. It was too soon to get into that. Especially when Alec was leaving on a two-day mission in a couple of hours.

Alec was the first to access his ability to respond.

"Well, that's nice for you." He said awkwardly.

"It was. He's been great." Brin said smiling genuinely.

Max was pale. Very pale.

"You okay Max?" she asked.

"Oh she's fine, Brin. She is just worried about the mission tonight. Look, we're gonna head out. We've got things to do. If you get bored head down to HQ and they'll give you something to do."

"Ok. See you later. And Max, I had a great day with you."

When she didn't respond Alec nudged her. "Me too."

"We'll see you later." Alec called over his shoulder as he steered Max out the door.

They didn't speak until they got back to their apartment.

Axel was sitting on the floor reading some printouts about the mission that night. The printouts contained things that they were looking for in a new location: already existing buildings, nearby wooded area, power lines that could be rigged to work again…that sort of thing.

He looked up when they entered. "What's wrong?" he asked reading their expressions.

Alec sighed as he sat down on the floor. He leaned back against the wall and stretched his legs out in front of him. "It's Brin."

"Is she alright?"

"Depends on your definition of alright. She's healthy, happy and, " he paused and looked lazily at Axel "Crazy."

"Define crazy?"

"She claims to have spent the last eight months in the company of my dead psycho killer twin." He deadpanned.

"How do you know she hasn't? You know how Manitcore was, they told us shit that wasn't true all of the time. Maybe he wasn't dead."

Max spoke up for the first time since they'd left Brin's. "He was dead. I killed him."

"_You_ killed him?" Axel asked.

"Snapped his neck. Killed him. Murdered him. Whacked him. Snuffed him out!" She was getting louder with every word. Alec stood and hugged her silencing her.

He looked down at Axel. "We're sure."

"So, then Brin is worse off than you thought?"

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do?" Axel asked.

"I don't know. I haven't had time to think. And I don't have time to think. We're due to head out in an hour.."

Max pushed away from Alec. "I need some air. Good luck tonight." She grabbed her jacket and slipped out of the apartment.

Both man helplessly watched her go.

Alec sat back down beside Axel.

"Shit." Was all he said.

Axel nodded but didn't speak.

Max was dying to head to the needle, but between the Familiars and her stab wound, she knew she was in no shape to leave T.C. So she found a tall building with a decent staircase and headed up to the roof. She hugged her knees to her chest, careful not to disturb her stitches, and let her mind wander.

She let her mind travel back into the woods on that autumn day with Ben.

She had tortured herself with this memory endlessly.

She had analyzed it from every angle.

Why the hell had they not gotten out of there first and fought about Ben's 'hobby' later?

She could've helped him. Logan would've known someone who could've helped. Yeah doctors were expensive, but she would've found the money. Hell, she would've sold her Ninja if she'd had to.

A tear slipped down her cheek and she closed her eyes.

She could almost smell the trees. She could almost feel Ben's weight across her legs. She could hear his voice. She could feel the ends of his hair graze her fingertips as she reached her hand up to the back of his neck. Her fingers brushed the slightly raised skin of his barcode. And she flinched as her memory recalled the sound of his neck snapping. She heard the sound of her tears hitting the rough fabric of his jacket. And then the sobs overcame her.

From her spot on the roof, she tipped over and laid her cheek on the cold ground. She laid there sobbing quietly until she fell asleep. Exhausted.

Alec had fallen asleep sitting up on the floor.

Axel had let him sleep. They had a long night ahead of them and he was pretty sure that Alec hadn't slept the night before.

He occupied himself by packing a small bag for himself and a small bag for Alec. That way Alec could sleep longer.

He stifled a laugh as he looked at the small number of belongings Alec had. At least he and the others had managed to get out of their apartments with some of their stuff. Alec had had to settle for whatever he had forgotten over at Joshua's old place.

Axel pulled a green shirt out of his pile and tossed it in with Alec's stuff. It would look better on Alec anyway.

Done with packing, he straightened up the room. Max had been a trooper about sharing with three guys, but he was pretty sure she would not be so understanding if they left on a two day mission leaving their shit lying around for her to clean up.

It's not that they liked being messy, it's just that they had spent their lives having everything around them spotless to a military precision. It was an expression of their freedom to leave their stuff all over the place. But, he had to admit, it was getting a little out of control.

He heard a vibrating noise coming from Alec's jacket and he searched the pockets finding Alec's phone. Seeing Biggs number on the caller I.D. he flipped it open and stepped silently out into the hall to take the call.

"Hello."

"Alec?"

"Axel."

"Alec with you?"

"Yeah. He's asleep. What do you need."

"I need Alec."

"I figured that dumbass, but do you need him now?"

"I wouldn't have called him if I didn't need him stupid."

"It can't wait?"

"What do you think?"

"I think he needs to sleep."

"Once he sees what I've got down here, he may never sleep again."

"That bad, huh?"

"Depends on your point of view."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Nothing. Just bring him down to HQ. It's important."

"No problem Biggs." Axel folded the phone closed and re-entered the apartment.

Alec opened one eye and looked up at him. "I take it play time's over?"

"Yep. Get your ass up. Biggs has something."

"Super!" Alec said with sarcastic enthusiasm.

He stood up and looked over at his bag sitting next to Axel's by the door.

"You packed my bag?"

"I was bored."

"Aww. Thanks mom." Alec picked his towel up off the chair, snapped it towards Axel who dodged it at the last second and disappeared into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later the two men walked into HQ carrying their bags.

"What's the emergency, Biggsy?"

"Uh, Alec. I don't really know how to tell you this…"

"Try using words." Alec kidded.

"Well…"

"Or sign language, or Morse code, or any other form of communication. Come on Biggs, I don't got all day. We're due to head out in" he paused to look down at his watch, "seventeen minutes."

"Alec-" Biggs started again

But there was no need to finish. Across the room a man stood up and turned to face Alec.

Alec's mouth dropped open and Axel dropped the bag he was holding.

"Holy shit." Axel whispered beside him.

"Uh.. Yeah.." Biggs spoke uncertainly. "That's what I thought too."

Alec stood shocked as the other man crossed the room. Alec still hadn't moved, or blinked or even drawn a breath.

When they were standing face to face, he reached out his hand and addressed Alec. "I hear your name is Alec."

Alec looked at the offered hand and hesitated two more seconds before he regained his composure and remembered where he was and how many people were watching.

He clasped the offered hand in an almost painful handshake.

"Hi Ben." He said in the most casual voice he could manage.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Alec was a tempest of emotions.

Standing in front of him was the bane of his existence.

He was literally shaking hands with the man who had single handedly delivered him into Psy-Ops more than any other transgenic in history (besides Brin.) He was also the man responsible for most of the tension between him and Max. And he was probably the reason that he didn't have the balls to make a move on Max even though she was really done with Logan. (But he really wasn't ready to explore that emotion).

But, the other side of the coin, Ben was his brother. His _Brother_.

When you have spent your whole life with no real family, that's not something to be taken lightly.

Ben watched the emotions passing through his brother's eyes.

He had a pretty good idea what Alec was thinking. Brin had told him about their joint experience in Psy-Ops and what they had done to Alec because of him. Not that Ben didn't get a grand tour of that particular brand of torture himself, but that was because of his own actions, not someone else's. He wasn't sure how well Alec would take coming face to face with him.

He took an involuntary step backwards.

Biggs broke the silence. He put a hand on Alec's shoulder but kept his eyes on Ben. "Hey man, you don't have to go tonight."

Axel found his voice again and spoke too. "Yeah. I mean, you'll miss the celebratory trip to the strip club, but you've seen a naked girl before, right?" he grinned and clapped him on the back.

Leave it to a transgenic to make an inappropriate joke to take the emotion out of an emotional moment.

Alec returned Axel's smile and then looked back at Ben. He wasn't ready to deal with this yet. "No. I'm going."

"Then we head out in ten." Biggs said as he motioned for Axel to follow him leaving Ben and Alec alone for a minute.

Ben cleared his throat. "I'm sure there is a lot you want to say, or bones you want to break, but I'm here because of Brin."  
Alec pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I can't handle her on my own. She's…" he paused looking for the right word. "…damaged. One day she's fine and then the next she's talking to people who aren't there. I found a whole notebook filled with 'Mission. Duty. Dis-"

"Don't finish that!" Alec interrupted.

"I know what crazy is Alec. I've been there. And Brin has that look in her eyes."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. But I sure as hell don't know what to do. And I know you care about her just as much as I do-"

"More." Alec interrupted harshly.

"Then help me."

Alec looked at the helpless look on his brother's face and his heart melted. Manticore had robbed them of so much, he wasn't going to lose any more.

He nodded. "Ok."

Ben smiled.

"What about Max?"

Ben's smile slipped. "Max?"

"Yeah, Max. What do you plan to say to Max?"

"Max is here?"

"Of course Max is here."

"Oh God!"

Alec put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Whoa! I'm not a priest. Don't kill me."

Ben gave him a dirty look.

"What? Too soon for brotherly bonding? No jokes yet? Fine." He turned serious again. "What are you going to do about Max?"

"I thought Max was dead. I thought she was killed when Manticore went down."

"What the hell is it with you two? She thinks you are dead, you think she's dead…"

"She thinks I'm dead?"

"Well, she did kill you herself. It kind of follows that after you kill someone, they are dead."

"You're a fan of the sarcasm aren't you?"

"Keeps me sane." Alec joked.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Did it occur to Max that she died and Manticore brought her back to life? Did it occur to her that Zack blew his brains out and Manticore brought him back to life? Was it too much of a stretch that they could bring me back?"

"Actually, no. But I guess we kind of figured that if they did, somebody would've known about it."

"Well, I got an extended stay in Psy-Ops."

"Funny, so did I." Alec said with a tinge of bitterness.

"Hey Alec! Five minutes man!" Axel interrupted from the doorway.

"Shit." Alec said. "Look, I have to go. It's a two-day mission. I'd take you with me, but I don't want to leave Brin alone with Max that long if she's that unstable. I also don't want to leave you here for Max to just run into. She's going to need to be prepped first. She's beaten herself up pretty badly about killing you."

"Those are kind of the only two available options, huh?"

Alec's eyes brightened as a light-bulb went off in his head. "Actually, no. Come with me."

"Hey Luke!" Alec called as Ben followed him further into HQ.

"Hey Alec!" He looked up. "And guy who looks exactly like Alec." He looked back and forth between the two men.

Alec rolled his eyes. This would take some getting used to. "Yeah, look, I need a favor. Well, two favors, but whose counting?"

"Anything." Luke beamed at the thought of being someone Alec came to when he needed a favor (or two).

"I need you to arrange transport for my cough uh, this guy, cough and a friend, over to Logan's. Can you handle it?"

"Sure. Is Logan expecting them?"

" He will be. And, I need a secure cell phone for, uh, this guy." Alec indicated he was talking about Ben.

"My name's Ben by the way. I used to go by 'this guy', but it got too confusing." Ben introduced himself to Luke and shook his hand.

Alec chuckled in spite of himself.

"Thanks Luke." Alec said. He turned to Ben "Go get Brin and get back here in ten. Luke will take care of everything." Luke sat straighter in his chair. He felt important here.

"Sure." Ben turned to walk away and stopped. "Hey Alec, who's Logan?"

Alec laughed. "Don't worry, he's gonna _love_ you! Oh! And Ben! Sneak and creep, huh? Don't run into Max."

"No problem, little brother." Ben flashed Alec a familiar—no, bad choice of words—a grin that he had seen in the mirror many times (that's better).

Alec returned the grin and flipped open his cell dialing Logan as he headed down to meet Axel and Biggs.

"Logan, buddy! Need a favor"

Don't you always? 

"Seems that way these days, but you know 'quid pro quo'. How many favors did I do for Eyes Only back in the day?"

Yeah, yeah. You know I'll do it, what do you need?" 

"I need you to house a couple of friends of mine. For a couple of days."

What kind of friends? 

"A crazy person and a dead person."

What? 

"Just kidding, just kidding. Two X-5's. Two days."

Fine. 

"And Dix is sending a care package. He rigged up something technical looking for you."

Great. 

"They'll be there within the hour. Have fun. Oh! And keep them away from my piano.."

I'll try. 

"Thanks Logan. I appreciate this."

No problem. 

Alec, Biggs and Axel casually walked through the crowd on their way to the storage unit. Even thought they could easily jump the fence, they cut a hole in it to prevent being identified as transgenics. They found the unit the X-6's had stored the motorcycles they 'borrowed' for this mission without incident. Biggs unlocked the lock and lifted the door.

"I call the red one." Alec said knowing that Axel would be pissed. He had a sudden realization that he had been wrong before. He hadn't been without a family. He'd had two brothers all along. Biggs and Axel might not be genetically related to him, but they _were_ his brothers.

"Bastard." Axel said as he turned toward the blue one.

"I call the blue one." Biggs said winking at Alec.

"Oh come on!" Axel complained knowing full well that they were being difficult on purpose.

Alec and Biggs laughed and pushed the bikes out of the unit. Biggs locked the door behind them and they headed out.

Alec mounted his 'borrowed' motorcycle, and followed Biggs and Axel through the first check point.

It was a nine-hour ride to their destination.

Alec knew he should be tired, but the events of the past few hours had given him so much to think about, he wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway.

He was suddenly glad that they took motorcycles. He was not in the mood to talk about it. Yet.

Biggs watched Alec in his rearview mirror. He wanted to say something, but what do you say in this situation? He knew that Alec knew he would be there if he needed him.

Axel caught Biggs eye and signed for him to lead the way. He nodded.

Let Alec zone out and think. Biggs would lead them, this time.

Axel fell in behind Alec, and the three men sped off toward a possible future for their people.

Max woke to the sound of fighting. She jumped to her feet and looked around trying to get her bearings. She remembered that she was on the roof. She walked to the edge and looked down to the sounds that had awoken her.

There were two X-6's fighting in an alley below her. She knew this 'game'. It started off with one fighter. Every 15 seconds or so a new fighter would enter into the fight replacing his opponent. Through the course of the exercise, that one fighter ended up fighting everybody. This was one of Manticore' favorite training exercises. The replacement fighters were supposed to be watching the main fighter and looking for a weakness to attack when they stepped in. The main fighter was challenged by fighting off everyone no matter what style they attacked him in. It was effective, until the fighter got too tired, or too hurt and then the replacements were supposed to beat the shit out of him. She knew these kids would stop before it got to that, but it still made her shiver. She'd always hated this 'game'.

She turned to head down the stairs noticing that she was bleeding again. She lifted her shirt. She hadn't pulled out any stitches, but she was bleeding lightly anyway. Typical.

She was halfway to her apartment when she changed directions.

She decided she'd head over to see Joshua instead of going home.

As she rounded the corner, she ran smack into a hard muscled chest, throwing her off balance and landing her on her ass.

"Dammit!" she yelled as she felt two stitches pop with the impact of her fall.

"Oh shit! Sorry!" Ben extended a hand to help her up as she looked up to see who her 'attacker' was.

"Jesus Alec! Watch where you're going!" she said as she allowed him to pull her to her feet.

He looked down into the woman's eyes for the first time and realized who he had just assaulted. Max! "Max?" he whispered.

"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

He laughed nervously not knowing what to say. "Uh. I'm just late."

She looked at her watch."Wow! Really late. Better get going." She smiled at him, "Hey, be careful." She said imitating Logan trying to joke with him.

He didn't take the bait.

"You're bleeding." He said taking note of the blood accumulating on her shirt.

"Yeah, well your stitches would hold if you would stop knocking me on my ass."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry. She'll be alright." She said hugging him.

"Who?" he asked too shocked by the action to remember to hug her back.

"Brin. Hey, are you wearing cologne or something?"

"No." he said pulling away.

"You smell different."

"Whatever. I gotta go." He turned and headed off as quickly as he could.

"See ya." She said as he disappeared around a corner She watched him go with a confused expression on her face.

Ben stopped when he was around the corner resting his head against the wall. He tried to compose himself. He really hadn't been prepared to run into Max. And it hurt that she hadn't even been able to recognize him. He was her brother for Christ's sake! And she looked at him and saw Alec. He punched the wall in front of him leaving a big hole. dammit!.

Alec, Alec. It was always Alec.

In Reindoctrination he had been forced to watch hours worth of images of Alec. Alec training. Alec on missions. Alec being a hero. Alec being a champion. Alec being perfect. He had tried so hard to be like Alec. But he never could. He never would. And his own sister couldn't even see him. All she could see was Alec.

Ben cursed himself for not being Alec. He couldn't even follow Alec's orders. Alec told him not to run into Max and what did he do? He not only ran into Max, He ran_ **into **Max._ Idiot!

He pulled himself together and headed off towards Brin's room.

There would be time for his inferiority complex later.

An hour later, a van deposited Ben and Brin in front of an old house.

"Are you sure this is it? This is our 'safe house'? It looks condemned."

"Don't worry. I've been inside. It's perfectly safe." Hugh smiled at his former CO's twin.

"If you say so."

He waved at their escort and headed up the steps guiding Brin with a hand at the small of her back.

They knocked on the door.

A moment passed without an answer, and they knocked again.

They heard a strange whirring sound accompanying footsteps and a man opened the door looking confused.

"What are you doing?" the man asked.

"Huh?" Ben asked.

"Why didn't you just come in?"

"I thought it would be rude."

"Riii-ght." The man looked at him strangely and moved out of the way gesturing for them to enter.

Brin and Ben took in their surroundings as they followed their host into the living room.

"Nice computer." Brin commented.

"Thanks. I'm Logan by the way." He introduced himself to Brin.

"Brin." She said shaking his outstretched hand and smiling brightly. _he's cute_

"Brin?" he asked. "As in Max's Brin?" Logan returned her smile.

"You know Max?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah. We used to be involved." He said awkwardly. Brin's smile faded.

"Really?" Ben asked sounding surprised.

"Don't be a dick." Logan said raising his eyebrow as he looked pointedly at him.

"What? I'm just saying you don't look like her type." Ben answered innocently.

"Right. And you do." Logan shot back.

"What? That's sick." Ben cringed.

"What the fuck are you even doing here?" Logan blurted out momentarily losing his temper in the face of his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. "I thought you said you needed me put up two of your friends." He asked after regaining control of his emotions.

"Me? I didn't ask you for shit." Ben responded confused by the older man's attitude.

"What?" Logan asked.

And then it all clicked into place for Ben. _Alec_. He had forgotten that this man knew Alec, not him.

_Of course_. "Maybe we should start all over. I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you." He said extending a hand to the older man.

"Ben?"

"That's what I said."

"Right, Alec. Very funny. Ben's dead."

"Ben's dead?" Brin asked in a panicked voice.

Ben instantly reached for her and put his arms around her. "No, Brin. I'm right here. Listen to my heart beating." He gave the older man a pointed look as he calmed his sister.

"You're serious?" Logan asked genuinely surprised.

"Dead serious." Ben smirked.

"Sorry man." Logan apologized reaching out to shake Ben's hand. "Alec didn't warn me. He's kind of got a sick sense of humor."

Brin relaxed and pulled way from Ben.

Ben shook the older man's hand. "I'm beginning to see that. No worries, though."

As they released hands, Logan's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the floor. He broke out in a sweat and developed welts on his skin almost instantaneously.

Brin screamed.

Ben didn't know what to do.

He dropped down to the floor beside Logan. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"The virus."

"What virus?"

"Alec.." he choked out.

"I'm NOT Alec!" Ben yelled.

"Call...Alec." Logan managed before he lost consciousness.

"Oh." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his new cell phone.

He speed dialed Alec.

Alec felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He saw the number and flashed his lights indicating to Biggs and Axel that they should pull over.

He flipped open the phone as he slowed to a stop.

"Having fun?" he asked his brother, smirking as he imagined the exchange that had taken place between Ben and Logan.

No! Ben yelled sounding like Alec did when he was trying not to panic about something. He could also hear Brin screaming in the background.

"What's going on." Alec asked in his CO voice.

I think I killed him. 

"WHAT!"

Well, I shook his hand.. 

Alec interrupted, "and what? You didn't like his grip, so you killed him?"

Biggs and Axel looked up hearing that part of the conversation.

No! He just fell on the floor all sweaty and sick. He said something about a virus, told me to call you, and then passed out. What do I do? 

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Alec fumed. Could he not go one day without giving Max a new reason to hate him?

"Are you touching him? Stop touching him!" Alec ordered. "And what the hell is wrong with Brin."

Ben stood up and put an arm around Brin drawing her head to his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. It usually seemed to calm her.

She's ok. Now what? What's wrong with him? 

"Manticore created a virus specifically targeted to his DNA. Max is a carrier and apparently, so are you."

Oh. Shit. 

"Yeah."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N—Okay..I have some issues with this chapter. I wrote it and then accidentally deleted it somehow and the re-write is not as good. Also, I found this chapter to be more set-up than anything else, but maybe that is just me, since I know where all of this is headed. But Lotamoxie asked nicely, so I decided to post it as-is.

Keep in mind that there is a LOT of excitement and plot movement in **Chapter 11** (which is almost complete and almost ready to be posted.) Oh and trust me: I have a really good reason for the one thing so many of you wanted to happen in this chapter, that didn't. I promise, it will be worth it.

Chapter 10

_Think. Think. Think! _

Has this happened before? Ben couldn't take the silence as Alec tried to come up with a solution.

"Yeah. Twice."

Okay, so what did you do then? 

"First time, Max got the antidote from Renfro, second time we transfused him with the blood of an X-5 who wasn't a carrier."

Ok. Transfusion. We'll try that. But, who? 

"What about Brin? Did she touch Logan?"

I don't know. Oh! Yeah. They shook hands. 

"When?"

What? 

" Did she touch him before you did or after you did?" Alec was getting impatient.

Before. 

"Alright. Good. In the kitchen, second drawer to the left of the stove there is a first aid kit with some tubing. Brin is going to have to do it by herself."

Ok. Ben headed into the kitchen as Alec talked.

"And whatever you do, don't touch him again."

No problem. He handed the supplies to Brin and she started the process. She's all hooked up. How did you know where everything was? 

"I put it there. I used to live there."

Ew. On purpose? Ben asked looking at the crumbling house with disgust.

Taking offense Alec replied "Actually no. I had to lay low there after I was falsely arrested of killing a priest. You wouldn't know anything about that would you.?"

Sorry. Ben replied meekly.

Alec felt guilty for his outburst. It's not Ben's fault that Alec was stressed out. Well, actually, he was a contributing factor, but not purposely."Don't worry. Max fixed it. She always does." He changed the subject. "How's the patient."

Looking better already. He's unconscious, but he's stopped sweating and he looks less like impending death. 

"Good. Look, I'm gonna head back. I should be there in a couple of hours."

You don't have to. I think we've got this covered. 

"It's not that. I feel bad not telling Max. She deserves to know about you."

Um. About Max… 

Biggs and Axel exchanged worried glances as Alec paled.

"What about Max?"

I sorta ran into her earlier. 

"What?"

I turned a corner and crashed into her. Popped some of her stitches. But don't worry, she thought I was you. Well, Except for the smell. 

"The _smell_?" Alec asked incredulously.

She said I –meaning you—smelled different than usual. 

"Well at least she'll have a way to tell us apart." Alec laughed visibly relaxing.

By _sniffing_ us? 

"Better than nothing."

You are one weird dude. 

"Yeah, well..Anyway, call if you need anything. Otherwise, I'll see you soon."

Later. 

Alec closed his phone and turned to Biggs and Axel. "I've gotta head back."

"This was a two-man op anyway." Axel said clapping him on the back.

"Yeah. Yeah. Just be careful." Alec advised.

"Always." Biggs replied stealing Alec's line.

Alec kicked him lightly in yesterdays gunshot wound. "I mean it."

"Apparently." Biggs said limping toward his own bike.

"Later Bro." Axel called as Alec kick-started his bike and headed back towards Seattle.

Axel turned back to Biggs.

"You know you owe me 50 bucks." Biggs grinned.

"No way. You bet that he would turn back before we got there, and that's not what happened!"

"Did you miss the part where he _turned back before we got there_?" Biggs asked.

"He didn't _turn_ back, he was _called_ back. That's not the same."

"Don't be an idiot. The bet was that he wouldn't go all the way with us, and he didn't."

"No! The bet was about whether he'd put Max or the mission first."

"You can't change the bet just because you're a sore loser."

"I didn't lose!"

The two men continued to bicker even as they mounted their bikes and headed off towards their destination.

Alec had decided to stop by Logan's and make sure no one was dead before he went to find Max.

He made it two steps into the house before Brin launched herself at him hugging him tightly.

Laughing, Alec returned the hug picking her up off of her feet. "Good to see you too."

He put her back on the floor and he followed her into the living room where Logan was laid out on the couch.

"Logan! Looking good, buddy." Alec greeted him sarcastically. Truthfully, Logan looked like shit. Although he'd partially recovered, Logan didn't look like he was going to come out of this one as well as he had the last time.

"Hi Alec. It is Alec isn't it? Or is there a third one of you running around?" Logan replied sarcastically nodding toward Ben.

"No. No. Just the two of us. But _is_ early in the week. You never know. Stranger things have happened." Alec smirked.

"Funny. You're a funny guy. It was clever of you to send Ben over here without telling either of us what was going on. Embarrassing and confusing, but funny."

"Aw, Logan, don't be mad. I was just trying to brighten up your day."

"By re-infecting me?"

"Now _that_ was a surprise." Alec said seriously.

"I figured. Manticore employed some sick bastards. I never saw this coming."

"No shit." Alec agreed. "You feeling up to a little work?"

"Always. What do you need?" Logan threw the blanket off of his legs and tried to stand up. He would've fallen flat on his face if not for Brin's quick reflexes. She caught him and helped him back to the couch. "Well, that's interesting." Logan said clearly embarrassed.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it's temporary. I'll get your wheelchair." Alec hurried out of the room clearly disconcerted. After Logan's last experience with the virus, a transfusion had him as fit as a superhero in an hour. He'd been recovering from this episode for almost three hours and he couldn't walk again? Not looking good. This virus shit was certainly never boring.

"You keep a wheelchair just lying around?" Ben asked.

"I took a bullet to the spinal chord about two years back. Transgenic blood transfusions had repaired most of the damage, I haven't had a problem in months." Logan explained. Ben nodded solemnly and absently rubbed the back of his neck where his spinal chord had been snapped.

Alec returned with the chair and had to help Logan ease himself from the couch to the chair.

"What did you need?" Logan asked allowing himself to be wheeled over to the computer.

"I need you to connect to TC. I need you to ask Max to come over."

"Why can't you do it? Lovers quarrel?" Logan asked managing to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Ben raised an eyebrow at this. Alec signaled to him _don't even ask_

"Because I'm supposed to be in Montana on a scouting mission. If I call, she'll get all worried and worked up and start demanding answers to her questions. I don't want her to hear about all of this over the phone." Alec explained.

"I understand. The connections going through. If you don't want her to know you're here, I'd move out of the frame."

Alec walked over to stand next to Ben. From where they were, they could see without being seen.

"What was that about?" Ben whispered to Alec.

Alec sighed. "Look, to get him off her back, Max told him we're together. So shut up and play along."

"So you're not together?" Ben asked.

"No."

"Logan's not the only one who thinks that you are."

"What are you talking about?"

"I couldn't take two steps in TC without hearing gossip about you two."

"Perfect."

"Yeah, I can see how it must be rough--- people thinking that you have a girlfriend that beautiful." Ben faked some sympathy.

"You know, I've always heard people complain about how annoying their brothers were, and now I finally know what they were talking about." Alec responded.

Ben's comeback died on his lips as the connection went through to TC.

Hi Logan. Dix appeared on the monitor. What can we do for you? 

"Hi Dix. Is Max around?"

Yeah. Gimme a minute. reached down and radioed for Max.

While they were waiting for her, Logan looked over at the two identical men. It was uncanny how much they looked alike. Logan struggled to find a single difference. He was interrupted from his thoughts by Max's voice. Caught off guard as he was, he couldn't hide his reaction to seeing her.

What's up Logan? 

"Max." Ben noticed the dreamy look on Logan's face as he looked at Max and he raised an eyebrow in Alec's direction. Alec gave him the finger in response. "How are you?"

Fine. What's up? She asked again impatient to get this over with.

"I have something I need you to take a look at." Logan said taking offense that Max didn't even notice that something was wrong with him.

Alright. Send it through on a secure channel and I'll take a look. 

"Um. I kind of need you to come here to look at it." He forced a cough hoping to get some sort of reaction out of her.

She sighed. When? 

"Tonight. Now if possible." Annoyed that she was so oblivious to his obvious physical symptoms. For Christ's sake, she had eyes. If she were paying attention she would notice he was sitting in a wheelchair!

Tonight's no good she answered.

Alec beamed proudly that she didn't jump to do him bidding. Maybe she really was over him this time.

"I need you for this Max."

Not tonight! No way! Look, the guys are gone, I have the apartment to myself, no way. Besides, it's bath night.. 

"_Guys_? How many _guys_ are you living with, Max?" Logan asked shooting Alec a dirty look. It figures he wouldn't provide proper accommodations for her. Logan would have treated her so much better!

Exasperated Max retorted Look, it you must know, Alec and I are living with Biggs and Axel. And it's none of your business. And don't go blaming Alec, it was my idea. We're leaving TC soon anyway. 

"You're right. It's none of my business anymore." He said brusquely. "So can you come by?"

Sorry. I can't. I'll try to make it tomorrow, but we're short handed here with the scouting missions all going on. I'll call you. she said disconnecting the call before he could respond. She was just not in the mood for his shit tonight. It was probably some stupid Eyes Only mission. In case he hadn't noticed she already had a cause of her own.

"Well, that didn't go very well." Logan stated the obvious, as usual.

"Yeah." Ben nodded taking a seat.

"Alright." Alec said clapping his hands together once trying to break the awkwardness in the room. "I guess I'm going to have to go and drag her here kicking and screaming for her family reunion."

"If you have to drag her out of the tub, please make her get dressed first. After all, she is my sister." Ben joked.

"Ben, I hate to break it to you, but she can't be your sister and my girlfriend when you are my twin brother. Those two things do _not _go together. It's just wrong." Alec shot back ignoring Logan flinching at Alec's use of the word 'girlfriend'.

"You do have a point." Ben made a face as he nodded.

"You two really are the same." Logan said watching the two men banter.

They both just smiled. Alec realized he wasn't the only one glad to have some real family.

"Alright, I'm out. I'll be back soon." Alec headed out to go get Max.

Ben turned on the TV, but he still heard Logan's last remark.

"It is definitely not my day."

Max had been soaking in the tub for almost an hour. She didn't want to get out, but her hands looked like prunes and the water was getting cold. She pulled the plug, towel dried her hair, combed it and then wrapped herself in a threadbare towel. She exited the bathroom and jumped when she saw Alec standing by the window looking down at the street.

"Alec! You scared me. What are you doing back?"

He glanced back at her and she unconsciously adjusted the almost see-thru towel she was wearing.

"Get dressed. We have some things to deal with." He said seriously but calmly.

"Is it bad?" She mobbed over to her bag and pulled out some clean clothes.

"No. Just get dressed." He said as he turned back to the window.

She dressed quickly with her back to him. He tried not to watch her in the reflection of the window, but once he realized that he could see her he couldn't look away. When she was decent she walked towards him. He turned at the sound of her footsteps as if he hadn't known that she was finished dressing. He gestured for her to sit on the bed. She sat and looked up at him, waiting for him to start.

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"Remember earlier when Brin said she has been with Ben all this time?"

Max nodded and Alec noticed a look of pain shooting through her eyes.

"Well, she has been."

"She's been with a guy named Ben?"

"No. She's been with _Ben_. X-5493. My twin. Your brother. Ben."

"Ben's dead." Max said with a small amount of hostility."

"Well, Max, so were you. You were shot through the heart, and you're here. Zack took a bullet through his brain and had his heart transplanted into someone else and he's still around. Is it really that much of a stretch that Ben has recovered from a broken neck?" He asked gently.

Max looked at him with wide eyes.

"It's really him?"

"It's really him. He brought Brin here hoping we could help her. He says she's pretty damaged. Too much for him to handle on his own. That's why they're here."

Her eyes moistened with tears she refused to shed. He took her hand in his and squeezed it tenderly sitting beside her on the bed.

"He wants to see you Max."

"Really?" she asked uncertainly as one lone tear escaped down her cheek..

"Really." He said wiping it away with his thumb.

"Where is he?"

Alec sighed. "Well, that's the thing, I sent him to Logan's so he wouldn't accidentally run into you before I could prepare you."

Something clicked in Max's brain. "But he did run into me. Earlier. That wasn't you, that was him." She stated looking at him for confirmation.

"Yeah. And now he's at Logan's waiting for us. But-"

"But what?"

"Manticore gave Ben a little present."

Max groaned "What now? "

"Ben is also a carrier of the 'Eyes Only' virus."

"What?" Max visibly paled.

"Don't worry, Logan's fine, but there was an incident when they shook hands."

Max stood up fuming. "I'm going to hunt down every bastard associated with that damn place!"

Alec laughed. "Ok. We'll do that tomorrow. But tonight how about we go see Ben."

An hour later Max and Alec were sneaking their way past sector cops trying to enter Joshua's through the back door.

Max had a family of butterflies dancing around in her stomach. She couldn't tell if it was from being excited, or scared. Never in a million years did she expect this to happen. She had tortured herself night after night about what she had done to Ben. She had relived it over and over again inside her head. Alec seemed optimistic, but would Ben really forgive her? Would he not hold it against her that he had been tortured and experimented on back at Manticore?

Alec was aware of Max's inner turmoil, but he didn't know what to say. What could he say? All the reasons that Ben may have to hate Max were the same reasons he had to hate Ben. But they all knew that it wasn't each other that they should be blaming. It was Manticore. One of the things that they all knew well, was that nothing bonded two people together like sharing a common enemy. And they had more than one common enemy. Alec knew what was waiting for Max inside that house, but he knew that she needed to hear it from Ben, not Alec.

Biggs and Axel had ditched their bikes hours earlier and were scoping out the area on foot.

It was a nice enough place, but something was off. They couldn't quite place it, but something was creeping them out.

They had been walking in silence for more than twenty minutes.

When they crested the hill they had been trekking up they paused as they took in the sight below them.

On the other side of the hill were two large buildings nestled in neatly in between where this hill met the next one.

Zooming in with their enhanced vision they gasped simultaneously as they dropped down to the ground to avoid being seen. Before them they saw lines and lines of soldiers standing at attention, lined up in formation watching an impressive martial arts demonstration. They watched in awe for a few minutes before giving in to the urge to flee.

Axel gave a low whistle as the two men slowly backed away to make their way back to where they had come from.

When they were far enough away to be comfortable about talking at a normal voice level, Biggs pulled out his cell phone and dialed TC.

The call was answered on the first ring. Biggs knew he recognized the voice, but didn't bother to match a name with the voice on the other end.

"Delta Team checking in. Mission complete. The objective does not satisfy the requisite specifications. The site's a negative."

Copy that, Delta Team. 

"We have an additional matter to report. I need Mole."

Mole here. The lizard man responded instantaneously. His deep, raspy voice a stark contrast to the younger sounding voice that was on the line a moment ago.

"The place would have been perfect for us, if it were not already being used."

Anybody we know? 

"We can't say for sure, we weren't prepared to get closer, but if I had to guess…Manticore."

Not Familiars? 

"I don't think so. It was eerie. It was just like I remember everything. The uniforms, the formations, the two kids fighting. It looks like when Manticore went down, they didn't go all the way down.."

Alright. We'll get something together once we relocate a new site. You guys heading back home? 

"Yeah. We'll be back tomorrow."

Don't forget to check in every four hours. 

"Yes, mom." Biggs smiled as he hung up and hurried to catch up with Axel.


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you to all the faithful nuns who keep reviewing. You all are so kind. I hope you like this chapter as much as I do.

Chapter 11

Max walked into the living room and stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart sped up as she looked into the hazel eyes that had haunted her nightmares for almost two years. She felt her own eyes well up with tears, and she ripped her gaze away from Ben's long enough to glance at Alec. He gave her a slight nod of encouragement and one corner of his mouth tilted up in mini-smirk. She looked back to her brother and before she knew it she was in his arms. She couldn't remember closing the distance between their bodies, but it didn't matter. She didn't care how it happened. She just cared that it happened. She breathed deeply memorizing his scent. Her tears spilled over. He was alive! Alive. Alive! Alive!

Ben tried to be offended that she had looked to Alec for reassurance before hugging him, but he couldn't. It didn't matter. Even now as she openly sobbed against his chest, it was blatantly obvious that she loved him. And he loved her back. He had spent the first ten years missing her, and the past two hating himself for what he had asked her to do. And here she was forgiving him without him even asking.

He soothed her as best he could by stroking her hair and whispering reassurances into her hair. "Shh, it's okay Max. It's ok. I'm here." His heart clenched in his chest when she began chanting back: "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" between her sobs. Fighting back his own tears, he glanced over at Alec noticing the look on his twin brother's face. For a split second Ben thought he saw jealousy in those eyes, but then he realized he saw something else entirely. Apparently Alec didn't harbor the brotherly feelings for Max that Ben had expected. He may have been on to something when he had teased Alec about being with Max earlier.

Ben knew that Alec and Brin had that brother-sister thing going on, and he had just assumed that Alec was that way with Max too. But Alec's eyes gave him away. Those were not the eyes of a brother.

Interesting.

When she had no tears left to cry, Max gave him one final, punctuated squeeze and pulled back. She looked up at him and he rested his forehead on hers. She smiled and stepped back wiping her tears on the back of her hands.

"Wow." She managed.

"Yeah."

Neither of them knew where to start. Seeing this, Alec broke the silence.

"Anybody thirsty? I'll go get us something to drink." He headed off into the kitchen making a hand signal to Ben for them to sit.

"Do you want to sit, Maxie?"

Max nodded hiccupping a sob at the use of her childhood nickname as it rolled off of Ben's tongue. Even though Alec and the boys called her that daily, it sounded different when Ben said it. Something about the inflection of his voice, maybe.

Ben took her hand and led her over to the couch. He sat down pulling her down beside him. She turned her body and crossed her leg underneath her body so that she was facing him. Their intertwined fingers rested on her leg.

"Tell me about you, Maxie."

"I don't know where to start."

"Start with Alec." Max had a weird sense of déjà vu' at the thought of Ben asking her about Alec. How many times had she replayed in her head the night that Alec had asked her about Ben?

"What do you want to know?"

"Did you think he was me?" Ben asked quietly unable to maintain eye contact with her.

"At first, yeah. For about two seconds. Then he opened his mouth and the illusion was shattered." She tried to lighten the mood with a little humor. "Not only was he sarcastic and cocky, but his eyes were different. I wished he was you." She said squeezing his hand, getting him to look up at her again. He squeezed back.

"How did you meet?" Ben asked as Alec came back holding three glasses.

"He was my breeding partner."

Ben's eyes widened slightly and he smiled up at Alec. "Damn Alec, how many of my sisters have been your breeding partner?"

Alec's grip on one of the glasses slipped and a small amount of the liquid spilled out before he was able to right it. "Uh.." he stammered as he put the glasses down on the coffee table and sat on the edge facing them.

"What does that mean?" Max asked.

"Well.."Alec tried to think of how to phrase it. This was _not_ how he wanted Max to find out about this. Well, he didn't want Max to find out at all, but if he had a gun to his head and was forced to tell her, this was not the way he wanted it done.

Ben smiled enjoying watching Alec squirm. A little payback for not telling Logan who Ben was… "Alec was Brin's breeding partner before he was yours."

"What?"

Alec didn't say anything.

"And you never told me!" she continued.

"I thought you might get upset."

"Upset? Upset? Like I'm not upset now? You've lied to me all this time!"

"I didn't lie. It just never came up."

"Never came up? Never came up?" she was incredulous.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you keep repeating everything I say in the form of a question? Yeah, Max, _it never came up! _"

"Whoa. Sorry. Didn't mean to start a fight." Ben interrupted.

"It's not you. It's Alec. It's always Alec." Max said irritated.

A voice from the doorway interrupted the reunion.

"Everything alright in here?" Logan said looking directly at Max. He had heard the fighting and he caught her last comment about Alec.

Max looked up at Logan taking in his appearance. She glanced at Alec. He hadn't told her Logan was this bad off. Both prior bouts with the virus had not had any lasting effects. It didn't seem that Logan was so lucky this time. She wondered if the wheelchair would be permanent this time.

"Everything's fine." Max said standing. "Where is Brin?"

Logan gestured for her to follow him into the next room.

When they were alone Alec looked to Ben.

"Nice." He said sarcastically.

"She's always had a short fuse. But it burns out quickly. She'll be fine."

"Oh, so you're an expert on Max now?" Alec said defensively.

"I know her better than you do." Ben shot back.

"Really?"

"Really. Some things don't change no matter how many years go by."

"Ok." Alec said thoughtfully before firing off questions like he was an interrogator. "Who is her best friend? What kind of gum does she chew? What is her favorite song? How does she take her coffee? How many times has she been in love? What is her biggest regret? Who is her hero?"

"Those are details, man. I know Max. I know her how it counts." Ben replied seriously.

"And I don't?" Why was Alec getting so upset? They _both_ had ties to Max. So what?

"You tell me."

This had taken an odd turn. Alec had spent his life wishing for a family, and here he was, one day into it and they were fighting over a chick.

Typical.

Brin interrupted, "If the pissing contest is almost over, I made some dinner."

The two men glanced at each other silently agreeing on a truce, and followed her into the dining room.

Biggs flashed his lights at Axel signaling to him to pull over.

"What's up?"

"Remember that mission we did a few years back? The one where afterward we went to that bar with the topless waitresses?"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't that it?" Biggs gestured to a neon sign between some trees.

"I think so."

"Thirsty?" He asked with a smile.

"Always." Axel said sounding like Alec.

"It's not like we're in a hurry to get home, right?"

"We can take a night off." Axel agreed seriously.

"Hotel and a shower first?"

"You get us a couple of rooms, I'll call into HQ and tell them we'll be back late."

"Deal."

Dinner was awkward.

Logan couldn't stop himself from mentally comparing Ben to Alec and Alec to Ben. He mentally catalogued everything from the way each held a fork to how many times they chewed before they swallowed.

"What is your problem?" Alec asked as he slammed his fork down on his plate and glared at Logan.

"What? I didn't do anything?" Logan responded, embarrassed that he got caught.

"You're staring at me. It's weird."

"Sor-ry." He said sarcastically.

Alec slammed his fork down again. "What is your problem? Is this about Max?"

"No!-"

"Guys!" Max interrupted. "Can we please just eat?"

"But he's looking at me." Alec argued.

"Do you need a time out or something?" she asked Alec. Logan smirked happy that Alec was in trouble.

"And you.." she continued turning to Logan. "Why can't you control yourself at dinner parties? I thought you high society people had manners? Now, I know he's pretty, but let the man eat." She said effectively ending the matter.

Logan opened his mouth to respond and closed it again before uttering even a sound.

"You can look at me, man. I'm just as pretty and I don't mind." Ben quipped and winked at Logan. "Ow!" he yelled as Brin kicked him under the table and Max gave him a death glare.

"Sorry." He said trying unsuccessfully to stifle his laughter.

"You are not." Max giggled as his laughter spread to her.

It wasn't long before all the transgenics were laughing.

Logan even smiled, but that was mostly because Max was so pretty when he smiled that he couldn't help it and not because he understood why they were all laughing.

Later on that evening Max found Logan working at his computer.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Hey Max. Have you been standing there long?"

"No. How are you feeing?"

"Good. Better." Logan lied and she knew it.

"Already back to work?"

"Yeah. I'm looking into something for Alec."

"Alec?"

"Well, really for Brin. I think I may know a doctor that can help her."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've been following up leads on old Manticore doctors. Trying to find a cure. I think one can help Brin."

"Oh, come on. We've had absolutely no luck with them, but you think they can help Brin? Get real."

"Max, neurological science is way more mainstream that specifically encoded DNA research. There are exponentially more doctors who can treat or at least diagnose a brain condition, than could help us with our thing."

"I guess."

"I'm doing a little research on my own, but without an EEG or an MRI or at least a CAT scan, we have no starting point."

He turned back to his computer, continuing his research.

Max was suddenly very uncomfortable. How many nights had she just sat and watched him work, and tonight, she was weirded out after two minutes.

Alec and Ben appeared at the door and Logan looked up. He couldn't get over how identical those two were. They were even standing the same.

"What's up Alec?" Logan asked looking at the one in the blue shirt and taking a guess.

"I'm Ben." Alec kidded.

"Oh sorry." He looked at Ben. "What's up Alec?"

Ben rolled his eyes and punched a laughing Alec lightly on the arm. "You were right the first time, Log."

"I was just kidding with you, pal." Alec said dropping the game and clapping Logan on the back to prove that he wasn't Ben.

"Hey man, Sorry about almost killing you. I didn't know I had that virus thingy. I had never even heard of anything like it." Ben apologized.

Logan stopped glaring at Alec and turned to the real Ben.

"No problem. Max does it to me all the time." Logan joked.

Max stood up. She hated death humor. She had lost too many people she loved to joke about it.

"God there's too much testosterone in here! Can we please be serious for ten seconds!"

The three men turned to her.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

"There is no plan, yet." Alec answered.

"Perfect."

Logan spoke up, "We've all had a long day. Why don't we get some sleep and we'll deal with it in the morning."

They all nodded as if they just realized how tired they were.

"Ok. I already gave Brin my room. I'll take the couch. Ben you can have Joshua's room, and Alec and Max you two can take Alec's old room." Logan said trying not to let any emotion show on his features.

Ben hid his face to hide his smirk.

Alec waited for Max to react. _this should be good for a laugh_

"Good idea. I'm beat. Night guys." She walked out of the room. She poked her head back in when nobody else moved. "Alec, are you coming to bed?"

"Yeah, baby. I'll be right there." He waited until he heard Max was in his room with the door closed before he said "Night boys. We'll try to keep it quiet." And strutted out of the room.

Damn he enjoyed that.

Was it wrong to enjoy that?

Nah.

He smiled and opened the door to his room.

A pillow hit him in the face. "I heard that." Max hissed, smiling.

"Sorry, Max. It had to be said. If people are going to believe we're together, then we need to act like it. And nobody is going to believe that a woman could sleep next to me and be able to control herself." He said with a straight face.

"You are such a jerk." She laughed hitting him with another pillow.

He retaliated and before they knew it they were in an all out pillow fight. Alec grunted and Max giggled and groaned as they fought like children.

Hearing the noises coming from behind Alec's door, Logan's heart broke a little bit more. He wheeled himself over to the couch and pulled a pillow over his head trying to block out the sounds…

Not two hours later the silence of the house was interrupted by a piercing scream for help. In less than three seconds Max, Ben and Alec had woken up and blurred into the hallway looking for the source of the screaming. Their quick reflexes were the only things that prevented Alec and Ben from crashing into each other as they exited their respective bedrooms.

From where they stood—all in fighting stances—they took in the sight of Brin trying to hold Logan still as he seized violently on the floor of the living room. Knowing that he was the only one who could help without killing Logan, Alec rushed to Brin's side and helped her hold Logan down to keep him from hurting himself. Hating the helplessness of his situation Ben put an arm around Max's shoulders and pulled her to him as they watched Alec and Brin struggling to help him. It took a minute for Ben to realize that something was wrong with Brin. As Logan's seizure subsided Brin continued to hold him, rocking his unconscious body back and forth and chanting " Hold on, Jack. Don't worry Jack. I won't let them take you." Max heard it too and the two exchanged worried glances as they realized that Brin was reliving a childhood memory of their brother Jack seizing back at Manticore. Ben released Max and moved over to Brin. Careful to avoid touching Logan himself he tried to draw her away from Logan, but she wouldn't have it. She lashed out and caught him with vicious left hook. Dazed, he fell back on his ass.

"I won't let you have him!" she screamed and pulled Logan closer to her chest.

Max approached her sister. "Brin. It's me, Max."

"Max-" Alec tried to warm her to be careful. She silenced him with a wave of her hand as she continued to move closer to Brin. She knew what she was doing. If Brin was having a flashback, then Max was the only one who could get through to her. There had not been any female guards bacl at Manticore. There was no way Brin could look at her and see a guard.

Brin looked uncertainly up at her.

"No one's going to hurt him. No one's going to take him away. We just want to help him. Make him comfortable. Can we help him?" Max asked.

Brin nodded as tears fell from her eyes.

Max pulled Brin gently away from Logan as Alec picked him up and put him back on the couch. The two women clung tightly to each other as Max soothed her sister as best she could.

The morning found Logan conscious again, Ben with a black eye, and Brin sleeping soundly in a chair by the couch. She had refused to leave Logan's side.

Logan and Ben were quietly discussing Logan's plans for Brin and the doctor he thought could help her.

Max and Alec were on the computer trying to have a meeting with Mole and Dix over the video phone.

They had just heard the results of the scouting missions. Things were not looking good. Not only had Axel and Biggs struck out, so had the other teams. They were running out of time and options.

"Does anybody have any suggestions?" Alec asked.

Not really. Mole answered. Nothing involving everyone going together anyway. We could make a go of it by splitting up into units. 

"I don't like the idea of everyone fending for themselves. 'Divide and conquer' rings in my head at the thought." Max said.

I agree, Max Dix responded. But we have to do something. We can't stay here anymore. We could continue scouting and try to regroup later, but splitting up is the only viable option we have at this point. 

"You're right." Alec spoke up making the decision nobody else wanted to have to make. "Call in all operatives in the field. Have everyone report in to their unit. Set up a contact number and give the order to scatter and go to ground." He said tonelessly, but his stress was evident by the clenched fists and tight jaw as he spoke.

Max nodded and put a hand on his arm.

Done. Mole said signaling to a transhuman behind him to relay the order to the others.

"What are we going to do about Brin?" Ben asked as Max and Alec were telling Ben and Logan about the call to TC.

"She can stay here." Logan offered.

"No way. We don't leave anyone behind." Ben stated firmly.

"Not forever. Just temporarily. I can get her into see that doctor, she can help me until I've recovered and then you can come back for her."

"No." Ben repeated.

"It's not a bad idea, Ben." Alec reasoned.

"No."

"Ben, it's better than taking her with us like she is. You brought her back because you couldn't handle her. And we can't help her as long as we're on the run. Logan can get her the help she needs. We can't." Max agreed with Alec and Logan.

"We're always going to be on the run Max."

"Not like this." She argued back.

"What about protecting her?"

"Logan is well connected. He's got friends at the hospital, on the police force, on the city council, if anyone could protect her it's him." Max argued.

While Alec didn't necessarily agree that Logan was some great protector, he was the only option and he knew that Logan would do anything for Max. He knew that Logan wouldn't let anything happen to Brin.

"And it's not like we're abandoning her. If there is a problem, we can be back within hours." Alec said backing up Max.

Knowing he was outnumbered, "I still don't like it." Ben conceded.

"Neither do we. But she needs help." Alec spoke for himself and Max.

"I'll tell her." Ben said as he left the room.

"Are you sure that you can handle this?" Max asked turning to Logan.

"Absolutely. Besides, she'll be helping me too. I still can't even lift myself out of this chair." Logan admitted.

"I'll have OC, Sketchy and Kendra check in on you two."

"Thanks Max."

"Thank _you_ Logan."

Brin had not protested being left behind even a little bit. She even seemed excited by the possibility of staying behind. Ben tried to explain to her that it was temporary and that they would be back for her, but she wasn't even slightly concerned. She actually wanted to stay. Not that they should have been surprised. Brin hadn't been farther than three feet from Logan since his seizure last night. She only left him long enough to cook for him.

Not surprisingly, lunch was a little awkward. Everyone was preoccupied with their feelings about what was happening. Silence reigned as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Not that anyone minded the lack of conversation. It was a vast improvement from the childish bickering that had accompanied diner the night before.

Max was torn between being sad to be leave Seattle, and at the same time excited to be starting over. And now that she had Ben and Brin back, she didn't care where she was, she was with her family.

Ben was not happy about leaving Brin, but he knew that it was the best thing for her. He had brought her to Seattle to get her some help, and that was what was happening.

Alec was trying to plan their trip in his head. He knew they had to be far enough away that they were safe, but close enough to come back if Brin needed them.

They shouldn't have bothered worrying.

None of their feelings mattered a few minutes later.

A loud sound erupted in the distance and the walls gently vibrated.

"Was that an earthquake?" Logan asked as Ben simultaneously said, "Was that a bomb?" as he tried to match the sound to his former training with explosives.

Max raced to the window and looked in the direction the sound had come from.

Smoke billowed from the wreckage directly where TC was. She choked out a sob as her fears were confirmed.

Alec rushed to the computer and tried to connect to TC. He couldn't get the connection to go through.

Behind him, Max pulled out her cell phone and tried to get Mole to answer. No luck.

Alec and Max exchanged looks and without a word Alec left the room to retrieve the box of weapons they had stored in the hall closet.

Ben pulled on his shoes and awaited orders.

Max got control of her emotions before she turned to Logan and Brin. "We'll be in contact. Take care of each other."

Brin hugged her tightly as Alec returned and slipped a Beretta into her hand.

She pulled away to let Alec and Ben take turns saying goodbye to their sister, as Max tucked the Beretta into her waistband and strapped a knife to her left calf.

"Max, be careful." Logan predictably advised her and she stood up and pulled her pantleg over to cover the blade.

"_We_ will." She responded emphasizing her displeasure that his endearment didn't include Alec and Ben.

Armed for combat, the three soldiers headed into battle hoping to offer what help they could to what was left of their people.

A soft beeping sound repeating itself three times woke Biggs out of a peaceful sleep. The noise wasn't that loud, but it didn't take much to wake a soldier who was that well trained. Especially when he was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed. He always slept better in his own space. Outside of that everything was enemy territory and everyone was a potential threat. A smile bloomed on his face as he took in the sensation of the soft, warm body snuggled up against his. Well, he hadn't thought of her as a 'potential threat' when he brought her to bed with him. He stifled a giggle at his own stupid joke.

He and Axel had had no problem finding female company in that bar. Biggs had charmed a redheaded bartender and Axel's green-eyed blond had not only been the owner's daughter but also the headlining stripper. They had partied late into the night and not even had to spend a dime—except for the two hotel rooms.

The noise that had awoken him had been his cell phone receiving a text message. Without disturbing the sleep of the naked redhead (Mandy? Mindy? Missy? Whatever. He didn't care. A little thing he picked up from Alec—remembering their names made them memorable. He'd seen Alec after Rachel Berrisford and he had no interest in love after seeing that. In fact, it was Biggs' goal to never even hear the last name of a woman he bedded. Ever.), Biggs stretched his leg out of the covers and picked up his discarded jeans with his toes. He eased his leg up until he could reach the jeans with his left hand (the right one being trapped in a particularly compromising place underneath the woman) and fished the phone out of his pocket. He flipped the cell open and hit the message button. The message popped up and Biggs blinked in surprise before re-reading it.

The message read, "**Base under attack. Displace. Go to Ground**."

He jumped out of bed no longer mindful of the woman beside him. Ignoring her displeasure at being tossed off of him and woken so violently he dressed quickly, grabbed his keys and tore out of the room. He raised a fist to beat on Axel's door and had to pull his punch at the last second as Axel blurred out of the door.

"Shit!" Axel said ducking the blow.

"Sorry." Biggs said tonelessly as the two men jumped over the railing and landed on the ground floor mounting their bikes and kickstarting them simultaneously.

They sped in the direction of TC heedless of attracting attention.

Axel's head was reeling as he and Biggs wove between traffic trying to get home as fast as they could. Not that TC was home, but when you lived like they did, home was where your family was, and Alec and Max were in Seattle…

Any residual good feelings from last nights fun faded like a distant memory as they pushed their bikes to their limits. They were such assholes! They had risked exposure and let down their people for a night of drinking, dancing and sex.

Axel hadn't even slept yet when he had heard his phone beckoning to him. He had been pretending to resist being enticed into the shower with Jessie? Jamie? Jenny? Whatever.—The doe-eyed blond who was almost as energetic and insatiable as he was in bed. Poor thing. She would've come out of the shower to find herself alone and abandoned without even a goodbye. Too bad. Couldn't be avoided. Still, it sucked to leave like that. Not that it mattered. Any guilt he had over her bruised feelings disappeared as her sad face was replaced in her mind with the bloodied bodies of countless X's and freaks currently fighting back in Seattle. He squeezed the throttle tighter and willed his bike to go faster.


End file.
